webcam
English
A webcam installed on the Shetland Islands
Portable webcam with microphone, designed for video calls
Etymology
From Web + cam, shortened from camera.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwɛbˌkæm/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
webcam (plural webcams)
- (computing, photography) A video camera whose output may be viewed in real time over a computer network, originally the World Wide Web.
- 1996 April 29, Steve Lohr, “Dining Out in Manhattan: How to See and Be Seen”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN, page D24:
- And while the Webcams focused on street scenes and other public gathering spots do seem to occupy an uncertain status as a new medium, they perhaps raise an ethical question: Is this the cinéma vérité of cyberspace or is it private surveillance?
- 2020 July 25, Chris Baraniuk, “No end to Covid-19 webcam shortage”, in BBC News[2]:
- As Covid-19 lockdowns took effect around the world, millions turned to remote working and organising virtual hangouts with friends. Overnight, webcams went from mundane computer accessories to gold dust.
Hypernyms
Translations
video camera viewed over a network
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Verb
webcam (third-person singular simple present webcams, present participle webcamming, simple past and past participle webcammed)
- (intransitive) To take part in a video communication using a webcam.
- 2014, Robert K. Tanenbaum, Fatal Conceit, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 178:
- I got on his computer and wrote the note. I swear there was nothing on his screen like he was webcamming with her but she must have been recording.
- (transitive) To film and broadcast with a webcam.
- 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 139:
- We should webcam it.
Further reading
Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʋɛp.kɛm/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: web‧cam
Noun
webcam m (plural webcams, diminutive webcammetje n)
- webcam [late 1990s]
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛb.kam/
Audio: (file)
Noun
webcam f (plural webcams)
Synonyms
- cybercaméra (France)
Further reading
- “webcam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English webcam.
Noun
webcam f (invariable)
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English webcam.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /we.biˈkɐ̃/, /webˈkɐ̃/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /webˈkɐ̃/, /we.biˈkɐ̃/
Noun
webcam f (plural webcams)
- (computing) webcam (video camera viewed over a computer network)
- Synonym: câmara web
Spanish
Noun
webcam m (plural webcams)