Definition of lantern

• n. - Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc. ; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light.
• n. - An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior.
• n. - A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
• n. - A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral.
• n. - A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See Lantern pinion (below).
• n. - A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc. ; -- called also lantern brass.
• n. - A perforated barrel to form a core upon.
• n. - See Aristotle's lantern.
• v. t. - To furnish with a lantern; as, to lantern a lighthouse.