Lantern word meaning and definition

[noun] light in a transparent protective case

\Lan"tern\, n. [F. lanterne, L. lanterna, laterna, from Gr. ? light, torch. See {Lamp}.] 1. Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc.; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light. 2. (Arch.)
(a) An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior.
(b) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
(c) A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral. 3. (Mach.) A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See {Lantern pinion} (below). 4. (Steam Engine) 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.; -- called also {lantern brass}. 5. (Founding) A perforated barrel to form a core upon. 6. (Zo["o]l.) See {Aristotle's lantern}. Note: Fig. 1 represents a hand lantern; fig. 2, an arm lantern; fig. 3, a breast lantern; -- so named from the positions in which they are carried. {Dark lantern}, a lantern with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the light; -- called also {bull's-eye}. {Lantern fly}, {Lantern carrier} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large, handsome, hemipterous insects of the genera {Laternaria}, {Fulgora}, and allies, of the family {Fulgorid[ae]}. The largest species is {Laternaria phosphorea} of Brazil. The head of some species has been supposed to be phosphorescent. {Lantern jaws}, long, thin jaws; hence, a thin visage. {Lantern pinion}, {Lantern wheel} (Mach.), a kind of pinion or wheel having cylindrical bars or trundles, instead of teeth, inserted at their ends in two parallel disks or plates; -- so called as resembling a lantern in shape; -- called also {wallower}, or {trundle}. {Lantern shell} (Zo["o]l.), any translucent, marine, bivalve shell of the genus {Anatina}, and allied genera. {Magic lantern}, an optical instrument consisting of a case inclosing a light, and having suitable lenses in a lateral tube, for throwing upon a screen, in a darkened room or the like, greatly magnified pictures from slides placed in the focus of the outer lens.
\Lan"tern\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lanterned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Lanterning}.] [Cf. F. lanterner to hang at the lamp post, fr. lanterne. See {Lantern}.] To furnish with a lantern; as, to lantern a lighthouse.

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