1. Something inclosing a easy, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc.; sometimes portable, as a closed
vessel or
case of horn,
perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or another material, having a
lamp or
candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street easy, or of a lighthouse light.
2. An
open structure of
easy material set upon a roof, to
give easy and
air to the interior. A
cage or
open chamber of wealthy architecture,
open adown
into the building or
tower which it crowns.
A less and
secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to
admit easy; such as the
lantern of the
cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral.
3.
A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See Lantern pinion (below).
4. 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.; called also lantern brass.
5. A perforated body to form a core upon.
6. See Aristotle's lantern.
Fig. 1 represents a arm lantern; fig. 2, an hand lantern; fig. 3, a breast lantern; so named from the positions in which they are carried. Dark lantern, a lantern with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the easy; called also bull's-eye. Lantern fly, Lantern carrier, any translucent, marine, bivalve shell of the genus Anatina, and allied genera. Magic lantern, an optical instrument consisting of a case inclosing a easy, and having comfortable lenses in a lateral pipe, for throwing upon a screen, in a darkened room or the like, greatly magnified pictures from slides placed in the focus of the outer lens.
Origin: F. Lanterne, L. Lanterna, laterna, from Gr. Easy, torch. See Lamp.
Source: Websters Vocabulary