LAN'TERN, noun [Latin laterna.]

1. A case or vessel made of tin perforated with many holes, or of some transparent substance, as glass, horn, or oiled paper; used for carrying a candle or other light in the open air, or into stables, etc.

A dark lantern is one with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the light.

2. A light-house or light to direct the course of ships.

3. In architecture, a little dome raised over the roof of a building to give light, and to serve as a crowning to the fabric.

4. A square cage of carpentry placed over the ridge of a corridor or gallery, between two rows of shops, to illuminate them.

Magic lantern an optical machine by which painted images are represented so much magnified as to appear like the effect of magic.