Kinematographs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of mechanical device used to project moving images onto a screen for entertainment or educational purposes
2. A film technology that captures, records, and reproduces motion, often part of early cinema history
3. Devices that allow the viewing of motion pictures by utilizing a series of still images played in rapid succession to create the illusion of movement

Etymology: "Kinematographs" is simply the plural of "kinematograph," so the story belongs to the singular. That word was built in the 1890s from two Greek elements: "kinema," meaning movement, and "graphein," meaning to write or record. The combination describes a device that writes or records motion, which is exactly what early film projectors did, drawing moving pictures out of a series of still frames. The name was a deliberate coinage rather than an inherited term, and it was one of several competing trade names of its era. The British inventor Robert W. Paul and others used it for their early projection machines, and it spread through the film industry as a generic name for the apparatus. Its shorter descendant, "cinema," later took over the meaning of the venue where films were shown, while the older compound lingered mostly in technical and historical contexts.

Synonyms: motion pictures, films, movies, cinematography, animations