See Also: Lantern(medicine)
lantern(dictionary)
lantern(dictionary)
Aristotle's lantern(medicine)
Jack-O' -Lantern(recipes)
storm lantern(dictionary)
magic lantern(dictionary)
jack-o'-lantern(dictionary)
Chinese lantern(dictionary)
Jack-o'-lantern(dictionary)

lantern (iou)



lantern noun & verb. . ME.
[Old & mod. French lanterne from Latin lanterna from Greek lampter torch, lamp (from lampein shine: cf. LAMP noun), after lucerna lamp.]
A. noun.
(A lamp consisting of) a transparent case, usu. of glass, horn, paper, etc., containing and protecting a light. ME.
J. Hilton Light was from paper lanterns, motionless in the still air. R. K. Narayan There was a dark patch between the light from the shop and the dim lantern.
fig. A thing which or (formerly) person who metaphorically gives light. ME.
G. Bancroft The lantern of science has guided us on the track of time.
Architecture. A square, curved, or polygonal structure on the top of a dome or a room, with the sides glazed or open, so as to admit light; a similar structure used for ventilation or some other purpose. LME.
The chamber at the top of a lighthouse, in which the light is placed. Formerly also, a lighthouse. L15.
Mechanics. A form of lantern-shaped cog-wheel, a trundle. M17.
The megrim, Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis. Cf. lantern-fish below. local. L17.
a. The hollow projection on the head of a lantern-fly. M18.
b. More fully Aristotle's lantern. The framework supporting the masticatory apparatus of certain echinoids. M19.
Phrases: Chinese lantern: see CHINESE adjective. dark lantern: see DARK adjective. magic lantern: see MAGIC adjective. parish lantern the moon.
Comb.: lantern bug = lantern-fly below; lantern clock a 17th-cent. wall clock worked by weights and surmounted by a bell in a frame; lantern-fish (a) local = sense 6 above; (b) = MYCTOPHID noun; lantern-fly any of numerous chiefly tropical hemipteran insects of the family Fulgoridae, in many of which the head bears a hollow projecting structure once thought to be luminous; lantern-jawed adjective having lantern jaws; lantern jaws long thin jaws, giving a hollow appearance to the cheeks; lantern-light (a) the light from a lantern; (b) Architecture a glazed frame in the side of a lantern; (c) a skylight; lantern-man (a) a person who carries a lantern; (b) spec. a nightman; lantern-shell (the translucent shell of) a bivalve mollusc of the genus Thracia; lantern-slide a slide for projection by a magic lantern etc.; lantern-wheel = sense 5a above.
b. verb trans.
a. Enclose as in a lantern. L18.
b. Provide or light with a lantern or lanterns. L18.
Put to death by hanging on a lamppost. rare. E19.
lanternist noun a person who uses a magic lantern L19.