The word 'videocam' is a modern portmanteau, a blend of two established English words. The first element, 'video', originates from the Latin verb 'vidēre', meaning 'to see', and entered English to denote technology related to moving visual images. The second element, 'cam', is a common 20th-century abbreviation of 'camera', a word which itself traveled from Latin 'camera' (a vaulted room) to refer to the photographic device via the 'camera obscura'. The compound 'videocam' logically and efficiently describes a camera specifically designed for capturing video, reflecting the trend of linguistic economy in technology terminology.

Structure: video (relating to visual images) + cam (camera) - video: From Latin 'vidēre' (to see). In English, a combining form meaning relating to the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of visual images. - cam: A clipped form of 'camera', from Latin 'camera' (vaulted chamber), via its modern sense of a device for recording visual images.