lantern

/lan"teuhrn/, n.

1. a transparent or translucent, usually portable, case for enclosing a light and protecting it from the wind, rain, etc.

2. the chamber at the top of a lighthouse, surrounding the light.

3. See magic lantern.

4. Archit.

a. a tall, more or less open construction admitting light to an enclosed area below.

b. any light, decorative structure of relatively small size crowning a roof, dome, etc.

c. an open-sided structure on a roof to let out smoke or to assist ventilation.

5. a light, usually over the entrance to an elevator on each floor of a multistory building, that signals the approach of the elevator.

[1250-1300; ME lanterne < L lanterna ( < Etruscan) < Gk lamptér lamp, light]

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▪ architecture

      in architecture, originally an openwork timber construction placed on top of a building to admit light and allow smoke to escape. Something of this idea persists in medieval examples such as the lantern above the central octagon of Ely Cathedral (14th century). The term lantern soon came to refer to the open top story of a tower, because such a construction resembled a lamp container and because beacons were occasionally placed there.

 In Renaissance and Baroque architecture, lantern came to mean the small cupola-like structure, usually with decorative arcades, mounted on top of a dome. Although at times its function is to admit light to the interior, it is essentially a proportional element in the visual design. Typical are the lanterns capping the domes of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence (1436–71), St. Peter's in Rome (1506), St. Paul's Cathedral in London (1689), and the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

 

▪ lighting

      a case, ordinarily metal, with transparent or translucent sides, used to contain and protect a lamp.

      Lamp-containing lanterns have been found at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other classical sites. They have been made of iron, silver, gold, and tin and their sides of horn, talc, leather, oiled paper, and glass. Designs have ranged from crude boxes pierced with nail holes to Oriental openwork bronze and exquisitely delicate examples of Renaissance and Baroque craftsmanship.

      The bull's-eye lantern, with one or more sides of bulging glass, was in popular use from the early 18th century, similar devices having been made at least as early as the 13th century. Dark until it was suddenly switched on by opening its door, it focused its light to some extent and served the purpose of the modern flashlight.

      The hurricane lantern, or hurricane lamp, still in use as a warning flare, has a shield of glass and perforated metal surrounding its flame to protect it from strong winds.

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