English

Noun

magic lantern ‎(plural magic lanterns)

1. An early form of slide projector that could achieve simple animation by moving and merging images.
2. (dated) A slide projector.

Translations

Usage notes

• The term was originally used for the ancient Chinese technique of projecting a painting on glass using an oil lamp, and was extended to include partial movement effects before true motion pictures were invented. It is still occasionally used for the modern slide projector.

Related terms

• magic lantern show
• zoetrope
• praxinoscope
• phenakistoscope

Translations