The word lantern comes via French from Latin lanterna meaning "lamp, torch," possibly itself derived from Greek. The housing for the top lamp and lens section of a lighthouse may be called a lantern. Others are placed on or just above the ground low-light varieties can function as decoration or landscape lighting and can be a variety of colours and sizes. Some hang from buildings, such as street lights enclosed in glass panes. Decorative lanterns exist in a wide range of designs. The term "lantern" can be used more generically to mean a light source, or the enclosure for a light source, even if it is not portable. However, some jurisdictions and organizations ban the use of sky lanterns because of concerns about fire and safety. During other Chinese festivities, kongming lanterns (sky lanterns) can be seen floating high into the air. During the Lantern Festival, the displaying of many lanterns is still a common sight on the 15th day of the first lunar month throughout China. During the Ghost Festival, lotus shaped lanterns are set afloat in rivers and seas to symbolically guide the lost souls of forgotten ancestors to the afterlife. Lanterns are used in many Asian festivals. Lanterns are also used to transport the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Great Saturday during Holy Week. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, lanterns are used in religious processions and liturgical entrances, usually coming before the processional cross. Lanterns may be used in religious observances. This type of lantern could also preserve the light source for sudden use when needed.Īrabic style lanterns ( fanous), symbolic in the Islamic month of Ramadan For example, in the Sherlock Holmes story " The Red-Headed League", the detective and police make their way down to a bank vault by lantern light but then put a 'screen over that dark lantern' in order to wait in the dark for thieves to finish tunneling. Ī "dark lantern" was a candle lantern with a sliding shutter so that a space could be conveniently made dark without extinguishing the candle. Lanterns also provided a means to signal from train-to-train or from station-to-train. Historically, a flagman at a level crossing used a lantern to stop cars and other vehicular traffic before a train arrived. Permanent lanterns on poles are used to signal trains about the operational status of the track ahead, sometimes with color gels in front of the light to signify stop, etc. In railroad operations, lanterns have multiple uses. In naval operations, ships used lights to communicate at least as far back as the Middle Ages the use of a lantern that blinks code to transmit a message dates to the mid-1800s. Use of unguarded lights was taken so seriously that obligatory use of lanterns, rather than unprotected flames, below decks was written into one of the few known remaining examples of a pirate code, on pain of severe punishment. This was especially important below deck on ships: a fire on a wooden ship was a major catastrophe. Some antique lanterns have only a metal grid, indicating their function was to protect the candle or wick during transportation and avoid the excess heat from the top to avoid unexpected fires.Īnother important function was to reduce the risk of fire should a spark leap from the flame or the light be dropped. The lantern enclosure was primarily used to prevent a burning candle or wick being extinguished from wind, rain or other causes. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as torches, or as general light-sources outdoors. Look up lantern in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.Ī lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light source – historically usually a candle, a wick in oil, or a thermoluminescent mesh, and often a battery-powered light in modern times – to make it easier to carry and hang up, and make it more reliable outdoors or in drafty interiors.
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