Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings.
nounEspecially, a metal casing with lens used to illuminate a stage (e.g. spotlight, floodlight).
Sentence Examples
Light the lantern so we can see.
Give the lantern to me.
There was a kerosene lantern on each table.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The explorer lit a ____ to see inside the dark, narrow cave.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The explorer carried a small ____ to light his way as he walked through the deep and dark cavern today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English lanterne (13th century), via Old French lanterne from Latin lanterna (“lantern”), itself a corruption of Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ (lamptḗr, “torch”) (see lamp, λάμπω (lámpō)) by influence of Latin lucerna (“lamp”). The spelling lanthorn was current during the 16th to 19th centuries and originates with a folk etymology associating the word with the use of horn as translucent cover. For the verb, compare French lanterner to hang at the lamppost. Displaced native Old English lēohtfæt (literally “light-container”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"On such an afternoon, if ever, the Lord High Chancellor ought to be sitting here—as here he is—with a foggy glory round his head, softly fenced in with crimson cloth and curtains, addressed by a large advocate with great whiskers, a little voice, and an interminable brief, and outwardly directing his contemplation to the lantern in the roof, where he can see nothing but fog."
— 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
"The station also boasts a large semi-domed French pavilion roof with fish-scale tiles and iron cresting, plus a rectangular hall with arcaded upper storey and wooden lantern."
— 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27:
"A youngish looking man came up to him, and aggressive-looking type with a hook mouth, a lantern nose, and small beady little cheekbones."
— 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 113: