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Glite Dictionary
🎬 An early film 📽️ An old projector 📷 An old camera
biograph

biograph

9.9
An early camera that records moving pictures
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪəˌgræf/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cámara biográfica
  • Many early films were shot using a biograph.

Examples

  • The first biograph was invented in the late 1800s.

  • He demonstrated the biograph to a fascinated audience at the science fair.

  • The museum displayed a restored biograph from the early days of cinema.

  • Inventors competed to improve the biograph and make moving pictures more accessible.

  • The museum displayed a restored biograph from the early days of cinema.

  • Inventors competed to improve the biograph and make moving pictures more accessible.

  • Many early films were shot using a biograph.

Synonyms

movie camera
vsbiograph
  • US
6 2.4

A camera for taking a series of pictures that show movement

is an older device limited to early recording methods
cinematograph
vsbiograph
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A machine long ago used to record and show moving pictures

records moving images but lacks built in projection
cine-camera
vsbiograph
  • Specialized
6.7

A camera that makes movies on film

is an early form rather than a standard film recording tool

Surface Forms

biograph singular
biographs plural

Morphology

biograph = graph (opaque) = bio + graph

The device sense is historically linked to the elements bio + graph, but that structure does not transparently yield the meaning for an average learner.

Etymology

Biograph comes from the Greek parts bio- ('life') and -graph ('to write' or 'record'), the same root you see in biography. So an early biograph camera or device was made to 'write' or record life by taking moving pictures.