câmaras

Câmaras is the plural form of Câmara, a Portuguese term with several related meanings. It can refer to physical spaces, such as rooms or chambers within buildings, and to administrative or legislative bodies that use the term Câmara in their name. The word shares its origin with the Latin camera, meaning a vaulted chamber or enclosed space.

In everyday use, câmaras can denote rooms or compartments, for example in architecture, machinery, or storage, as in câmaras frigoríficas (refrigeration chambers) or other enclosed spaces. In governmental and administrative contexts, câmaras often indicate municipal or national legislative bodies. In Brazil, a Câmara Municipal is the municipal legislative chamber composed of vereadores (councilors) that discusses and approves local laws, budgets, and oversight of the executive branch. At the federal level, Câmara dos Deputados is the lower house of the National Congress, alongside the Senate (Senado Federal). In Portugal and other Portuguese‑speaking countries, “câmara” also refers to the municipal government or city hall, the executive authority typically headed by a mayor, with the municipal assembly serving as the legislative venue.

Etymologically, Câmara comes from Latin camera, and its plural câmaras covers both physical chambers and organizational bodies that derive their name from the notion of an enclosed space or chamber. The term can be distinguished from câmera, which in some contexts is used to mean camera devices, though usage varies by region. Overall, câmaras encapsulates a range of meanings linked by the idea of a contained space or a formal assembly.