camera obscura

[ ob-skyoor-uh ]

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

/ ɒbˈskjʊərə /

noun

1. 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 Sometimes shortened tocamera

Word History and Origins

Origin of camera obscura¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of camera obscura¹

New Latin: dark chamber

Example Sentences

He has long worked with different types of photography, including pinhole cameras and camera obscura.

From The Daily Beast

The camera obscura consisted of a box with a lens at one end and a ground glass at the other, just like a modern camera.

From Project Gutenberg

There his qualities are too often petrified into an excessive formality; he shows something too much of the camera obscura.

From Project Gutenberg

Finally she had recourse to the Camera Obscura, and, with the help of the views set before her there, she found the missing girls!

From Project Gutenberg

The colour of the water is dark brown, like many forest streams in Brazil, and forms a beautiful camera obscura.

From Project Gutenberg

The same principle enters into the arrangement of the camera obscura.

From Project Gutenberg