camera

The story

1. New Latin · derived fromcamera obscura“dark chamber”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kh₂em-“to bend, curve”
3. Proto-Indo-Iranian · derived from*kmárati
4. Proto-Iranian · derived from*kamarā-“something curved”
5. Ancient Greek · derived fromκαμάρα“anything with an arched cover, a covered carriage or boat, a vaulted chamber, a vault”
6. Latin · learned borrowing fromcamera“chamber or bedchamber”
7. English todaycamera

Learned borrowing from Latin camera (“chamber or bedchamber”), from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “anything with an arched cover, a covered carriage or boat, a vaulted chamber, a vault”), of Old Iranian origin, from Proto-Iranian *kamarā- (“something curved”), from *kamárati, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kmárati, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- (“to bend, curve”). Doublet of chamber. (device): An ellipsis of camera obscura, from New Latin camera obscura (“dark chamber”), because the first cameras used a pinhole and a dark room.

Words from the same roots