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/

Noun

webcam (plural webcams)

1. (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

• netcam

Translations

video camera viewed over a network

• Arabic: كَامِيرَا وِيب f (kāmērā web)
• Bengali: ওয়েবক্যাম (oebkêm)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 攝像頭／摄像头 (zh) (shèxiàngtóu), 網路攝影機／网路摄影机 (wǎnglù shèyǐngjī)

• Czech: webkamera (cs)
• Danish: webkamera n
• Dutch: webcam (nl), (very informal) cam (nl)
• Esperanto: retkamerao, retfotilo
• Faroese: vevmyndatól n
• Finnish: verkkokamera, webbikamera (fi)
• French: webcam (fr) f, cam (fr) f, webcaméra (fr) f
• Galician: cámara web f
• Georgian: ვებკამერა (vebḳamera)
• German: Webcam (de) f
• Hindi: वेबकैम (vebkaim)
• Icelandic: vefmyndavél f, (slang) vebbi m, (extremely rare) vefauga n, (extremely rare) tölvuauga n, (extremely rare) glyrna f
• Italian: webcam (it)
• Japanese: ウェブカメラ (webukamera)
• Korean: 웹캠 (wepkaem)
• Macedonian: веб-камера f (veb-kamera)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nettkamera n, webkamera n

  Nynorsk: nettkamera n, webkamera n

• Polish: kamer(k)a internetowa f
• Portuguese: (Portugal) câmara web f, (Brazil) webcam f
• Russian: веб-ка́мера (ru) f (vɛb-kámera), ве́бка (ru) f (vɛ́bka)
• Spanish: cámara web f
• Swedish: webbkamera (sv) c
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: เว็บแคม (wép kaem), เว็บแคเมรา (wép kaemayraa)
• Vietnamese: webcam (vi)

Verb

webcam (third-person singular simple present webcams, present participle webcamming, simple past and past participle webcammed)

1. (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.

2. (transitive) To film and broadcast with a webcam.
   • 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 139:

     We should webcam it.

Further reading

• webcam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English webcam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɛp.kɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: web‧cam

Noun

webcam m (plural webcams, diminutive webcammetje n)

1. webcam [late 1990s]

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English webcam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛb.kam/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

webcam f (plural webcams)

1. (computing, photography) webcam

   Synonyms: cam, webcaméra

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)

1. (computing, photography) webcam

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English webcam.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /we.biˈkɐ̃/, /webˈkɐ̃/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /we.biˈkɐ̃/, /webˈkɐ̃/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /webˈkɐ̃/, /we.biˈkɐ̃/

Noun

webcam f (plural webcams)

1. (computing) webcam (video camera viewed over a computer network)

   Synonym: câmara web

Spanish

Noun

webcam m (plural webcams)

1. webcam