lantern
Syllables: lan·ternUK/ˈlæntən//ˈlæ̝ntɚn/
lantern noun: a case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
Noun
lantern (plural lanterns)
- A case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
- Especially, a metal casing with lens used to illuminate a stage (e.g. spotlight, floodlight).
- An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior.
- On such an afternoon, if ever, the Lord High Chancellor ought to be sitting here—as here he is—with a foggy glory round his head, softly fenced in with crimson cloth and curtains, addressed by a large advocate with great whiskers, a little voice, and an interminable brief, and outwardly directing...1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC
- The station also boasts a large semi-domed French pavilion roof with fish-scale tiles and iron cresting, plus a rectangular hall with arcaded upper storey and wooden lantern.2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27
- A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
- 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
- A lantern pinion or trundle wheel.
- 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.
- A light formerly used as a signal by a railway guard or conductor at night.
- A perforated barrel to form a core upon.
- Aristotle's lantern
Verb
lantern (third-person singular simple present lanterns, present participle lanterning, simple past and past participle lanterned)
- To furnish with a lantern.
- to lantern a lighthouse
Adjective
lantern (not comparable)
- Of a facial feature, large and squarish in shape as an old-fashioned lantern.
- A youngish looking man came up to him, and aggressive-looking type with a hook mouth, a lantern nose, and small beady little cheekbones.1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 113
lantern meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
lantern in Hindi
- case of transparent material made to protect a flame, or light
- लालटेन lālṭen, फ़ानूस fānūs, फानूस phānūs
lantern in Tamil
- கூண்டு விளக்கு, விளக்கு, கண்ணாடி விளக்கு
lantern in Marathi
- lantern, lamp
- कंदील kandīl
lantern in Urdu
- case of transparent material made to protect a flame, or light
- لالْٹین lālṭen, فانُوس fānūs
More languagesFewer languages
- lantern in Bengali
- লন্ঠন lonṭhon, সিরাজ śiraj
- lantern in Telugu
- లాంతరు lāntaru
- lantern in Malayalam
- റാന്തൽ ṟāntal
- lantern in Kannada
- ಲಾಂದ್ರ lāndra
- lantern in Punjabi
- ਲਾਲਟੇਨ, ਲੈਂਟਰਨ
- lantern in Gujarati
- ફાનસ phānas, કંદિલ kandil
- lantern in Odia
- ଲଣ୍ଠନ, ଲାନ୍ତର୍ନ୍, ଲାନ୍ତର୍
- lantern in Sanskrit
- दीपिका dīpikā
- lantern in Nepali
- लालटेन, ल्यान्टर्न, लण्ठन
- lantern in Pashto
- پانوس pānús, لاټين lãṭayn
- lantern in Arabic
- فَانُوس fānūs
- lantern in Malay
- tanglung, lentera
- lantern in Indonesian
- lentera, tanglung
- lantern in Thai
- โคม koom, โคมไฟ koom-fai, ประทีป bprà-tîip
- lantern in Vietnamese
- đèn lồng, lồng đèn
- lantern in Myanmar
- မီးအိမ် mi:im
Examples of lantern in a sentence
- By way of armoury and utensils, I took a revolver, a little spirit-lamp and pan, a lantern and some halfpenny candles, a jack-knife and a large leather flask.
- The risk of fire was an ever-present danger, and every night at bedtime they performed the ritual of checking that every candle and lantern had been snuffed out.
- Workers of a lantern production factory in Da'an District, Zigong City, transport the finished lanterns.
Forms of lantern
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | lanterns |
| alternative form (archaic) | lanthorn |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | lanterns |
| present participle | lanterning |
| past participle | lanterned |
| past | lanterned |
Origin of lantern
From Middle English lanterne (13th century), via Old French lanterne from Latin lanterna (“lantern”), itself a corruption of Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ (lamptḗr, “torch”) (see lamp, λάμπω (lámpō)) 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 lamppost. Displaced native Old English lēohtfæt (literally “light-container”).
Words formed from lantern
- blind lantern
- Chinese lantern
- crab lantern
- dark-lantern
- dark lantern
- death lantern
- fairy lantern
- Fresnel lantern
- friar's lantern
- grave lantern
- hobby lantern
- hurricane lantern
- idiot's lantern
- jack-a-lantern
- jack-o'-lantern
- jack-o-lantern
- Jack-with-a-lantern
- Japanese lantern
- lantern beetle
- lantern berry
- Lantern Festival
- lanternfish
- lantern fish
- lanternflower
- lanternfly
- lantern gear
- lanternist
- lantern jaw
- lantern jawed
- lantern-jawed
- lanternless
- lanternlight
- lanternlike
- lantern of the dead
- lantern roof
- lanternshark
- lantern shark
- lantern shield
- lantern sleeve
- lantern slide
- lantern tower
- lantern wheel
- magic lantern
- magic lantern show
- neep lantern
- parish lantern
- peg-a-lantern
- sky lantern
- storm lantern
Phrases with lantern
Questions about lantern
- What does lantern mean?
- Lantern means a case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
- What is lantern in Hindi?
- Lantern in Hindi is लालटेन (lālṭen), फ़ानूस (fānūs), फानूस (phānūs). See Lantern meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is lantern?
- Lantern can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce lantern?
- Lantern is pronounced /ˈlæntən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lantern?
- The plural of lantern is lanterns.
Words near lantern in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lantern (page history and authors); lantern (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कंदील (Marathi) (page history and authors); റാന്തൽ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); lantern (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); કંદિલ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); lantern (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lantern (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-lantern.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lantern.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lantern. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.