Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “lantern” come from?

Lantern comes from Old French lanterne, from Latin lanterna, from Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ, meaning a light-bearing vessel.

lantern (English): A case of translucent or transparent material...

Definitions

  1. A case of translucent or transparent material...

Ancestry of “lantern”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishlanterneA lantern or lamp; An inspiration; guidance; An...
2Old Frenchlanternelantern
3Latinlanternalantern, lamp; torch
4Ancient Greekλαμπτήρlighter, torch, lantern
5Ancient Greek-τήρAdded to verb stems to form masculine agent nouns
6Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “lantern”

  • lanternlight
  • lanternfish
  • lanternlike
  • lanternless
  • lanternfly
  • 랜턴
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →