Forms: 3–4 lanter(e, 4–6 launtern(e, 4–7 lanterne, (4 -tirne, 4–5 -tyrne, 5 -tarne, laterne), 5 lantane, lawnterne, -tryn, 5–6 lantron, 6 lantren, -trin, -turne, 6–7 lanthorne, 8–9 lanthern, 6–9 lanthorn, 4– lantern. [ad. F. lanterne, ad. L. lanterna, also lāterna, believed to be ad. Gr. λαμπτήρ (f. λάμπ-ειν to shine, cf. LAMP sb.), with ending after L. lūcerna.
The form lanthorn is prob. due to popular etymology, lanterns having formerly been almost always made of horn.]
1. A transparent case, e.g., of glass, horn, talc, containing and protecting a light. For blind, bull’s eye, Chinese, Friar’s lantern, see those words. Also DARK LANTERN, MAGIC LANTERN.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12910. He þe chess als his lanter Be-for his face þe light to bere [Gött. lantern : bern]. Ibid., 15847. Quarfor haf yee taken me, And als a their vm-soght Wit lantern.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 926, Dido. I shal as I can ffolwe thyn lanterne as thow gost byforn.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 5398. Liȝt lemand eȝen as lanterns he had.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 1255. Lyk till lawntryns it illuminyt so cler.
1587. Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 376/2. The said lanthorne to be mainteined by those two widowes that shall haue the hanging of them out.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 460. It is like a sliuer of the Muscouy glasse whereof we vse to make Lanthorns.
1635. Quarles, Embl., V. xii. 289. Alas, what serves our reason, But, like dark lanthornes, to accomplish Treason With greater closenesse?
1755. Johnson, Lantern … it is by mistake often written lanthorn.
1756. Nugent, Gr. Tour, II. 238. The streets are … well furnished with lanthorns for the winter nights.
1816. C. Wolfe, Burial of Sir J. Moore, 8. By the struggling moon-beam’s misty light And the lantern dimly burning.
1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, xiii. Our poop lanterns were so large that the men used to get inside them to clean them.
1873. G. C. Davies, Mount. & Mere, xvi. 140. Fishing up a lanthorn he turned the light on her face.
b. † Lantern and candle-light: the old cry of the London bellman at night. Hence † lantern and candle man: a bellman.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, C 2. It is said, Lawrence Lucifer, that you went vp and downe London crying then like a lanterne and candle man.
1600. Heywood, Edw. IV., I. (1613), C. No more calling of lanthorne and candle light.
1602. Dekker, Satiromastix, I 2 b. Dost roare, bulchin, dost roare? th’ast a good rounciuall voice to cry Lanthorne & Candle-light.
c. Proverbs. † To bear the lantern: to show the way as a leader.
a. 1483. Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 283. Of alle the remes in the worlde this beryth the lanterne.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 205. A Lanthorne and a light mayde: manerly sayde.
1683. Burnet, More’s Utopia, 2. They need not my Commendations, unless I would, according to the Proverb, Shew the Sun with a Lanthorn.
1827. Carlyle, in Froude, Life (1882), I. 374. To prove the existence of God, as Paley has attempted to do, is like lighting a lantern to seek for the sun.
d. spec. = MAGIC LANTERN. Chiefly attrib. (see 8).
2. a. transf. Now rare.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 543. O lanterne, of which queint is þi light.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVI. xii. (Tollem. MS.). In a temple of Venus is made a candelstik, on þe whiche was a lantarne so brennynge þat [etc.].
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. ix. 91. Lyk onto the lantrin of the mone.
1536. Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), I. 52. Utheris … belevit … that the … lanternis of the hevin, war verray Goddis.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., I. 25. Others [Nero] staked through, rosined and waxened over their bodies, and so set them lighted up, as torches and lanthornes to passengers.
1664. Power, Exp. Philos., I. 24. The Gloworm … This is that Night Animal with its Lanthorn in its tail.
1880. W. Watson, Prince’s Quest (1892), 92. And now the Moon her lanthorn had withdrawn.
b. fig. Applied to things metaphorically giving light. † Formerly often of persons.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 1046. Þe lombe her lantyrne withouten drede.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. cxviii[i]. 105. Lanterne to my feet thi woord, and liȝt to myn pathis.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 171. Two lanternes of þe world … Lanfranc, and Anselme.
a. 1412[?]. Lydg., Two Merch., 454. His lives lanterne, staff of his crokyd age.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., lxxi. And [Muses] with ȝour bryght lanternis conuoye My pen, to write my turment and my Ioye.
1503. Hawes, Examp. Virt., XIV. (Arb.), 66. O geme of gentylnes and lanterne of plasure.
1548. Vicary, Anat., To Brethren (1888), 11. Galen, the Lanterne of all Chirurgions.
1558. Knox, First Blast (Arb.), 31. Those that shuld haue bene the lanterns to others.
1577–8. Holinshed, Scot. Chron. (1805), II. 42. The cathedrell church of Murrey, the lantren and ornament of all the north part of Scotland.
1591. Spenser, Ruins Time, 169. Camden!… lanterne unto late succeeding age.
1627–77. Feltham, Resolves, I. xviii. 31. Extreme poverty one calls a Lanthorn, that lights us to all miseries.
1766. Smollett, Trav., 99. This great lanthorn of medicine is become very rich.
1874. Bancroft, Footpr. Time, i. 38. The lantern of science has guided us on the track of time.
3. † a. A lighthouse. b. The chamber at the top of a lighthouse, in which the light is placed. † c. Some part of a ship.
a. 1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 110. In truth it [a watch-tower] serueth in right good stead as a Lanthorne.
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., 40. Vpon the shore there is an high Lanterne, large enough at the top to containe about threescore persons, which by night directeth the sailer into the entrance of the Bosphorus.
1705. Addison, Italy, 258. Caprea, where the Lanthorn fix’d on high, Shines like a Moon through the benighted Sky, While by its Beams the wary Sailor steers.
b. 1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 440. Within that stands the lanthorn.
1809. Kendall, Trav., II. xxxv. 9. The height … measured from its base to the top of the lanthorn, is sixty-nine feet.
1851. Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 320. The bird … was carried against the lantern in a gale.
1882. Standard, 23 May. The height of the new tower above high water to the middle of the lanthorne is 130 feet.
c. 1661. Pepys, Diary, 17 Jan. The ‘Soverayne’ … is a most noble ship:… all went into the lanthorne together.
4. Arch. An erection, either square, circular, elliptical, or polygonal, on the top either of a dome or of an apartment, having the sides pierced, and the apertures glazed, to admit light; a similar structure serving as a means of ventilation, or for any other purpose. In quots. 1600 used to translate L. culmen and fastigium.
c. 1406. Scriptores tres (Surtees), 144. Hic etiam magnam partem campanilis, vulgo lantern, minsterii Eboracensis construxit.
1547. Boorde, Introd. Knowl., X. (1870), 151. The spyre of the churche is a curyous and a right goodly lantren.
1600. Holland, Livy, X. xxiii. 368. The image of Iupiter himselfe in the lanterne or frontispice of the Capitoll. Ibid., XXXVII. iii. 946. Both the lanterne, yea and the leaved dores thereof, were foully disfigured.
1634–5. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 174. A tower-like building, almost like your lanthorns in college halls.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 291. Upon which tower a short spire rises, with its base fixed on a broad lanthern.
a. 1817. T. Dwight, Trav. New Eng. (1821), I. 521. The prospect of this town, and its environs, is taken completely from the lantern of the State-House.
1831. Lytton, Godolphin, lx. Lady Erpingham was in the lantern of the House of Commons.
5. A name of certain fishes (cf. lantern-fish in 9). a. The whiff, Arnoglossus megastomus. b. ? U.S. A species of gurnard, Trigla obscura.
1674. Ray, Collect. Words, Sea Fishes, 100. Lanterns: Lug aleth Cornubiensibus. Ibid. (1686), Willughby’s Ichthyogr., IV. 102. Arnoglossus … species illa quam piscatores nostri Cornubienses à pelluciditate sua a Lantern … vocant.
1880–4. F. Day, Brit. Fishes, II. 22. Arnoglossus megastoma,… Names,… lantern, referring to its semi-transparency when held up against the light.
6. a. The luminous appendage of the lantern-fly.
1750. G. Edwards, Birds, III. 120. The Fly, I take to be a Kind of Fire-Fly, and that part on his Head, the Lanthorn.
1810. A. v. Sack, Voy. Surinam, 279. From the head rises a large proboscis of an oval form, but tapering most towards the head, and making one third of the whole size of the insect, which is vulgarly called the lantern, emitting a bright light.
b. Lantern of Aristotle (see quots.).
[This is derived from Arist. Hist. Anim., IV. v. (Bekker p. 531) where the body of the echinus is said to be shaped like the frame of a lantern (λαμπτήρ).]
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 216. Dental system of Echinus. 1. Represents three of the pyramidal pieces forming the ‘lantern of Aristotle’ in situ.
1870. Nicholson, Man. Zool., xvii. (1880), 198. In Echinus this [masticating apparatus] consists of five long calcareous rod-like teeth, which perforate five triangular pyramids, the whole forming a singular structure known as ‘Aristotle’s Lantern.’
7. Technical uses. a. Calico-printing, etc. A steam chamber in which the colors of printed fabrics are fixed.
1839. in Ure, Dict. Arts, 233.
b. Electricity. The part of the case of the quadrant electrometer that surrounds the mirror and suspension-fibers.
1872. Sir W. Thomson, Electrostatics & Magn., 263. Plate 1 fig. 1 represents the front elevation of the instrument, of which the chief bulk consists of a jar of white glass … supported on three legs by a brass mounting, cemented round the outside of its mouth, which is closed by a plate of stout sheet-brass, with a lantern-shaped cover standing over a wide aperture in its centre. For brevity, in what follows these three parts will be called the jar, the main cover, and the lantern.
1889. in Century Dict.
c. Founding. ‘A perforated barrel to form a core upon’ (W.).
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 519. The lantern is a cylinder or a truncated hollow cone of cast iron, about half an inch thick; and differently shaped for every different core.
d. Mech. A form of cog-wheel (see quot. 1812–6). Also lantern-wheel.
1659. Leak, Water-works, 18. Near the end, there is … a Lanthorn or Pinion of 12. Staves.
1709. F. Hauksbee, Phys.-Mech. Exper., 1. The Winch is fasten’d to a Spindle, that passes thro’ a Lanthorn, whose Pins perform the Office of Cogs.
1805. Brewster, in J. Ferguson, Lect., I. 82, note. A lantern.
1812–6. Playfair, Nat. Phil. (1819), I. 79. Sometimes the smaller wheel is a cylinder, in which the top and bottom are formed by circular plates or boards, connected by staves inserted at equal distances along their circumferences, serving as teeth; this is called a lantern.
1829. Nat. Philos., Mech., II. vii. 30 (U. K. S.). The teeth of the wheel, instead of working in the leaves of a pinion, are made to act upon a form of wheel called a lantern.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 208. The screw is slipped into a hole in a narrow-faced ‘lantern.’
8. attrib. and Comb.: a. simple attributive, as lantern-glass, -horn, -post; also (sense 1 d) lantern entertainment, -photograph, -plate, -size; (sense 4) lantern roof, tower, turret. b. objective, as lantern-bearer, -maker. c. instrumental, as lantern-led, -lit adjs.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, Laternarius, a *lanterne bearer.
1883. Stevenson, Treas. Isl., I. v. A rush was made upon the ‘Admiral Benbow,’ the lantern-bearer following.
1611. Cotgr., Lanternier, a *Lanterne-carrier.
1890. Anthony’s Photogr. Bull., III. 37. *Lantern entertainments.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 590. I see he has smashed the *lantern glass again.
1543. trans. Act 1 Rich. III., c. 12. No merchaunt Straungier [shall] … brynge into this Realme of Englond to be sold any maner … *lantern hornes.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., I. 486. It is … semi-transparent, almost like lantern-horns.
1808. Scott, Marm., IV. i. Better we had through mire and bush Been *lanthorn-led by Friar Rush [cf. Milton, L’Allegro, 104].
1884. J. Colborne, Hicks Pasha, 218. We enjoyed our coffee al fresco in the cool *lantern-lit garden.
1598. Florio, Lanternaro, a *lanterne maker.
1668. H. More, Div. Dial., II. 193. To prevent the Art of the Lantern-maker.
1884. B’ham Daily Post, 3 Nov., 7/3. Three of the members will demonstrate the processes of photography, by *lantern-photographs … taken during the conversazione.
1889. Anthony’s Photogr. Bull., II. 291. Placing the negative in a printing frame, the *lantern plate was laid upon it, film to film.
1871. Morley, Condorcet, in Crit. Misc., Ser. I. (1878), 53. Summary hangings at the nearest *lantern-post.
1882. Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, I. ii. 46. Its wide shallow staircase, curiously carved balustrades, and *lantern roof.
1889. Anthony’s Photogr. Bull., II. 66. Carriers, to carry quarter plates or *lantern-size plates.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 8 Sept., 3/3. Amateur photographers are learning to make *lantern slides from their own negatives.
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., 40. fig., F. the foote of the *Lanterne Tower.
1762. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1765), I. 121, note. The Lantern-tower in the same cathedral [Ely].
1879. Sir G. Scott, Lect. Archit., II. 262. The dome [of the Baptistery at Florence] had formerly an eye, like the Pantheon, but has now a *lantern turret.
9. Special combs.: lantern-bellows, a kind of bellows resembling in structure a Chinese lantern; lantern-braces (see quot.); lantern-carrier (also -bearer) = lantern-fly; lantern-face, ? = LANTERN-JAWS; lantern-fish, the smooth sole; lantern-fly, one of several species of insects of the family Fulgoridæ (see quots.); † lantern-leaves, thin sheets of horn for lanterns; † lantern-lerry, ‘some trick of producing artificial light’ (Nares); lantern-light, (a) the light from a lantern; (b) a ‘light’ (i.e., a glazed frame or sash) in the side of a lantern (sense 4); (c) an arrangement for giving light through the roof of an apartment; lantern-man, one who carries a lantern, † spec. one who empties privies by lantern-light, a nightman; lantern-pier, ? a pier supporting a lantern (sense 4); lantern-pinion = lantern-wheel; lantern-pump (see quot.); lantern-service, a religious service during which magic-lantern slides are employed to furnish illustrations; lantern-shell, the bivalve genus Anatina, with a translucent shell; lantern-spar (see quot.); lantern-sprat, a sprat infested by a Lernæan parasite (see quot.); † lantern-stairs (see quot.); lantern-wheel = sense 7 d. Also LANTERN-JAWS.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Lantern-bellows, so called from its resemblance to a paper lantern.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Lantern-braces, iron bars to secure the lanterns.
1810. A. v. Sack, Voy. Surinam, 279. The *Lantern Carrier … The *Lantern Bearer.
1795. J. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Royal Tour, 10. Lo, Pitt arrives! alas with *lantern face!
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., *Lantern fish.
1769. Pennant, Zool., III. 191. It [the smooth sole] is a scarce species, but is found in Cornwall, where from its transparency, it is called the Lantern Fish.
1822. Couch, in Linnæan Trans., XIV. 78. Carter, or Lanternfish, Pleuronectes megastoma … It is also called Marysole.
1880. W. Cornwall Gloss., Lanthorn fish, a smooth sole.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., *Lantern fly.
1780. J. T. Dillon, Trav. Spain (1781), 474. Those harmless insects called lanthorn flies.
1802. Bingley, Anim. Biog. (1813), III. 172. The Great Lantern Fly.
1883. C. F. Holder, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 191/1. The Chinese have the curious lantern-fly (Fulgora candelaria), with its long cylindrical proboscis, from the transparent sides of which a brilliant light appears.
1714. Fr. Bk. of Rates, 44. *Lanthorn-Leaves, as mercery, per 100 Weight, 03 00.
1721. C. King, Brit. Merch., I. 294. Lanthorn Leaves.
c. 1630. B. Jonson, Expost. Inigo Jones, 72. Smiling at his feat Of *lantern-lerry.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xii. 50. If men caste in to it a *lanterne-light, it fletez abouen.
1814. Southey, Roderick, XXI. 139. Why ’twas in quest of such a man as this That the old Grecian searched by lanthorn light.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 188. With regard to the lighting of a grand stair-case, a lantern-light is the most appropriate.
1897. Hall Caine, Christian, x. There was a refreshment-room with its lantern lights pulled open.
1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, 57. Wee will make him … tell what *Lanterneman or groome of Hecates close stoole hee is.
1813. Sporting Mag., XLII. 4. The lanthorn-man should be silent, nor show the light till at the place of sport.
1889. P. H. Emerson, Eng. Idyls, 89. Now he felt sure a lantern-man was approaching him.
1848. B. Webb, Continent. Ecclesiol., 98. The four evangelists are in niches over the *lantern-piers.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 140. *Lantern pinions answer admirably as followers, but are not suited for driving.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Lantern-pump, one having a pair of disks at the end of a flexible cylinder, like a Chinese lantern.
1897. Ch. Times, 20 Aug., 187/1. The *lantern services, especially that on the ‘Life of Christ,’ proved most helpful to the people.
1851–6. S. P. Woodward, Mollusca, II. 321. Anatina, Lamarck. *Lantern-shell.
1777. Watson, in Phil. Trans., LXVIII. 867. A piece of rhomboidal, otherwise called refracting or *lantern spar, was broken into four smaller pieces.
1880–4. F. Day, Brit. Fishes, II. 233. This Lernea is luminous at night-time, and fishermen assert that shoals of sprats are often preceded by several of these fishes infested by parasites and which have occasioned their being termed *‘lanthorn sprats.’
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I. liii. Between every tower, in the midst of the said body of building, there was a paire of winding (such as we now call *lantern) staires.
1792. Young, Trav. France (1889), 17. The stone drawn up by *lanthorn-wheels of a great diameter.
1831. G. R. Porter, Silk Manuf., 199. These parallel spokes are then connected together by bands of string, thus forming a kind of lantern-wheel.
Hence † Lanterner, a maker of lanterns.
c. 1515. Cocke Lorell’s B., 10. Lanterners, stryngers, grynders.
