camera obscura
nounUK /ˌkæm.ər.ə əbˈskjʊə.rə/
US /ˌkæm.ər.ə əbˈskjʊr.ə/
A dark box or room with a tiny hole that lets light in and shows a picture of what is outside on the wall inside.
The children looked inside the camera obscura and saw the trees outside shown upside down on the wall.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. An early optical device used by artists to help draw scenes accurately.
The painter used a camera obscura to trace the outline of the buildings.
3. A darkened room or box used in science to study how light travels.
In science class, we built a camera obscura to learn about light rays.
4. A historical tool that led to the invention of the modern camera.
The camera obscura is an important step in the history of photography.