lanthorn

Noun

lantern (plural lanterns)

1. A case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
2. Especially, a metal casing with lens used to illuminate a stage (e.g. spotlight, floodlight).
3. 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
4. A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
5. 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
6. A lantern pinion or trundle wheel.

See all 12 meanings of lantern