camera obscura

American  

[ob-skyoor-uh] / ɒbˈskjʊər ə /

noun

1. a darkened boxlike device in which images of external objects, received through an aperture, as with a convex lens, are exhibited in their natural colors on a surface arranged to receive them: used for sketching, exhibition purposes, etc.

---

camera obscura British  

/ ɒbˈskjʊərə /

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: camera.  a darkened chamber or small building in which images of outside objects are projected onto a flat surface by a convex lens in an aperture

---

Etymology

Origin of camera obscura

1660–70; < New Latin: dark chamber; see camera ¹, obscure

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

camera obscura

He likely used optical devices, including a camera obscura, a precursor to the box camera.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

To a child, a box can be a doll’s house or a rocket ship, a camera obscura or a magic carpet sailing down the concrete slides in Golden Gate Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

Weber said Vermeer had probably entered a camera obscura, and “translated that experience into his own art.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2023

He showed me the camera obscura he kept in his loft.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2020

It is interesting to note this early employment of the camera obscura in the field of astronomical research, in which its latest achievements have been of such pre-eminent value.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 "Calhoun" to "Camoens" by Various