magic lantern

English

A 19th century magic lantern

Etymology

Calque of Latin lanterna magica.

Noun

magic lantern (plural magic lanterns)

  1. (historical) An early light projector and precursor to the slide projector that could achieve simple animation by moving and merging images.
    • 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 23, column 1:
      "You know how that trick was, don't you Dan?" said Bob, "it was a magic lantern."
  2. (dated) A slide projector.

Translations

See also

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