fanlight

Syllables: fan·light/ˈfænˌlaɪt/

fanlight noun: a semicircular or semioval window over a door or other window, normally having a fan-like structure of ribs; sometimes hinged to the transom.

Image: Ardfern, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

fanlight (plural fanlights)

A semicircular or semioval window over a door or other window, normally having a fan-like structure of ribs; sometimes hinged to the transom.
- One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness except for the fan-light, Mr. Utterson stopped and knocked. A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Search for Mr. Hyde”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 26
- Limpet was out, but with a deal of struggling he managed to screw himself through the fanlight, removing in that process the dust of many ages.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 90
An electric fan, usually a ceiling fan, that is also a light fixture.

fanlight meaning in Tamil

fanlight in Tamil

விசிறிப்பலகணி

Examples of fanlight in a sentence

The house numbers are set in fanlights of stained glass above the doors.1960, John Updike, Rabbit, Run, page 65:
It turned out to be a big gloomy pile with ivy and peeling walls and a smashed fanlight over the door, the kind of place where you picture a mad stepdaughter locked up in the attic.1982, John Banville, The Newton Letter:

Forms of fanlight

plural	fanlights

Origin of fanlight

From fan + light (“window; source of illumination”).

Words formed from fanlight

dummy fanlight
fanlighted

Questions about fanlight

What does fanlight mean?: Fanlight means a semicircular or semioval window over a door or other window, normally having a fan-like structure of ribs; sometimes hinged to the transom.
What is fanlight in Tamil?: Fanlight in Tamil is விசிறிப்பலகணி. See Fanlight meaning in Tamil.
How do you use fanlight in a sentence?: The house numbers are set in fanlights of stained glass above the doors.
What part of speech is fanlight?: Fanlight is a noun.
How do you pronounce fanlight?: Fanlight is pronounced /ˈfænˌlaɪt/.
What is the plural of fanlight?: The plural of fanlight is fanlights.

Words near fanlight in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: fanlight (page history and authors); fanlight (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “fanlight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fanlight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.