Lantern

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈlæntən/

Definitions

1. A portable light source enclosed in a protective case, typically with transparent sides, used for illumination outdoors or in dark spaces
2. A container with translucent or transparent panels that holds a light source to provide illumination while protecting the flame from wind and weather
3. A protective enclosure designed to house and display a light, commonly carried for visibility in darkness or used as a decorative element in architectural settings

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "lantern" is that its ancestor was a word for a torch, and a Greek one at that. The Ancient Greek "lamptēr" meant "torch", and it passed into Latin as "lanterna", where it was altered under the influence of "lucerna", meaning "lamp". Latin speakers thus reshaped a Greek torch-word around a word they already used for a lamp, and it was this Latin form that reached Old French as "lanterne". English took the word in the 13th century as "lanterne", displacing the native Old English "lēohtfæt", which literally meant "light-container". The original idea was a vessel holding a flame, which is still what the word describes today. The spelling "lanthorn" was common from the 16th to the 19th century. It came from a folk etymology that linked the word to horn, which was used as a translucent cover for lights, and the spelling persisted for centuries before the modern form became standard.

Synonyms: light, lamp, torch, beacon, illumination