noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈkæmʃæft/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K AE1 M SH AE2 F T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A shaft fitted with cams; especially one in a piston engine that activates the valves.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: shaft, component, part
2
noun
Meaning 2
has cams attached to it
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: rotating shaft, shaft
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵembh- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbhos Proto-Germanic *kambaz Proto-West Germanic ᚲᚨᛒᚨ Proto-West Germanic *kamb Old Dutch *kamb Middle Dutch kamp Dutch kamder. English cam English shaft English camshaft From cam + shaft.
Across languages
Translations
37 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
عَمُود الحَدَبَات
(ʕamūd al-ḥadabāt)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Breton:
marbr meudek
— a shaft fitted with cams
Bulgarian:
разпределителен вал
(razpredelitelen val)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Chinese Mandarin:
凸輪軸 /凸轮轴
(tūlúnzhóu)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Czech:
vačkový hřídel
— a shaft fitted with cams
Danish:
kamaksel
— a shaft fitted with cams
Dutch:
nokkenas
— a shaft fitted with cams
Esperanto:
kamŝafto
— a shaft fitted with cams
Estonian:
nukkvõll
— a shaft fitted with cams
Finnish:
nokka-akseli
— a shaft fitted with cams
French:
arbre à cames
— a shaft fitted with cams
German:
Nockenwelle
— a shaft fitted with cams
Hebrew:
גַּל פִּיקוֹת
(gal pikot)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Hebrew:
גַּל זִיזִים
(gal zizim)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Indonesian:
poros bubungan
— a shaft fitted with cams
Italian:
albero a camme
— a shaft fitted with cams
Lithuanian:
paskirstymo velenas
— a shaft fitted with cams
Macedonian:
брегаста осови́на
(bregasta osovína)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Norwegian Bokmål:
kamaksel
— a shaft fitted with cams
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kamaksel
— a shaft fitted with cams
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kamaksling
— a shaft fitted with cams
Polish:
wałek rozrządu
— a shaft fitted with cams
Polish:
wałek rozrządczy
— a shaft fitted with cams
Portuguese:
eixo de comando
— a shaft fitted with cams
Portuguese:
árvore de cames
— a shaft fitted with cams
Romanian:
arbore cu came
— a shaft fitted with cams
Romanian:
ax cu came
— a shaft fitted with cams
Russian:
распределительный кулачковый вал
(raspredelitelʹnyj kulačkovyj val)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Russian:
распредвал
(raspredval)
— a shaft fitted with cams
Spanish:
árbol de levas
— a shaft fitted with cams
Swedish:
kamaxel
— a shaft fitted with cams
Tagalog:
tandos-umbok
— a shaft fitted with cams
Turkish:
eksantrik mili
— a shaft fitted with cams
