Definition of: camera

(kam′ər·ə,·kam′rə) noun plural ·er·as for defs. 1 and 2, ·er·ae for defs. 3, 4, 5, 6.
1. A lightproof chamber or box in which the image of an exterior object is projected upon a sensitized plate or film through a shuttered opening usually equipped with a lens or lenses.
2. An enclosed unit containing the special light-sensitive vacuum tube which converts optical images into electrical impulses for television transmission.
3. A chamber, as of the heart.
4. In Italy, a legislative chamber; also, the financial department of the papal curia.
5. Law A judge's chamber or private room.
6. A camera obscura.
—in camera Law Not in public court; privately; secretly. [<L, vaulted room <Gk. kamara. Doublet of CHAMBER.]