Lantern definition
The room containing the lamp at the top of a lighthouse.
noun
The definition of a lantern is container that holds a light.
An example of a lantern is a hand held light powered by propane, used while camping.
noun
A structure built on top of a roof or dome with open or windowed walls to admit light and air.
noun
An often portable case with transparent or translucent sides for holding and protecting a light.
noun
A decorative casing for a light, often of paper.
noun
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A light and its protective or decorative case.
noun
The room at the top of a lighthouse where the light is located.
noun
(obsolete) A lighthouse.
noun
A case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
noun
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(architecture) An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior.
noun
(architecture) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
noun
(architecture) A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light.
The lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral.
noun
(engineering) A lantern pinion or trundle wheel.
noun
(steam engines) A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc.; a lantern brass.
noun
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(zoology) Aristotle's lantern.
noun
To furnish with a lantern.
To lantern a lighthouse.
verb
A transparent or translucent case for holding a light and protecting it from wind and weather: it usually has a handle on its framework so that it can be carried.
noun
An open or windowed structure on the roof of a building or in the upper part of a tower or the like, to admit light or air.
noun
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Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
lantern
Plural:
lanternsOrigin of lantern
- Middle English from Old French lanterne from Latin lanterna from Greek lamptēr from lampein to shine
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Middle English (13th century), via Old French lanterne from Latin lanterna (“lantern"), itself a corruption of Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ (lamptÄ“r, “torch") (see lamp, λάμπω) by influence of Latin lucerna (“lamp"). The spelling lanthorn was current during the 16th to 19th centuries and originates with a folk etymology associating the word with the use of horn as translucent cover. For the verb, compare French lanterner to hang at the lamp-post.
From Wiktionary