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)

2. (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, →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:

     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: ウェブカム (webukamu), ウェブカメラ (webukamera) Korean: 웹캠 (wepkaem), 웹카메라 (wepkamera) 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, webcam m or f, wébkam f Swedish: webbkamera (sv) c Tamil: please add this translation if you can Thai: เว็บแคม (wép kaem), เว็บแคเมรา (wép kaemayraa) Turkish: Web Kamera sg, Webcam sg 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

French Wikipedia has an article on:

webcam

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

Borrowed from English webcam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛb.kam/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (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

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

webcam

Wikipedia ^it

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

Alternative forms

• wébcam, wébkam

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwebkam/ [ˈweβ̞.kãm]
• Rhymes: -ebkam
• Syllabification: web‧cam

Noun

webcam m or f same meaning (plural webcams)

1. webcam

   Synonym: cámara web

Further reading

• Manuel Seco; Olimpia Andrés; Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “webcam”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]