lamp or lantern?

[Wes/MO]

Lamp --> stationary,
lantern --> mobile.

That's my understanding.

Hi Laonork - Interesting moniker! - and great 'parsimonious' comment -
and likely it is 'true' - or perhaps it should be However - is this an
exception or not? Wasn't a 'train locomotive light' once referred to as
a 'lamp' or am I wrong? Maybe only in the old days??
- Wes/MO

 

[Prai Jei]

[email protected] (or somebody else of the same name) wrote

what is the difference in definition and in connotation, between a
"lamp" and a "lantern"?

A pseudo-archaic spelling "lanthorn" was used in the SF novel Tramontane by
Emil Petaja, part of a tetralogy which updated the Kalevala into a
futuristic setting. Any justification for this spelling?

 

[Stephen Calder]

That's because the headlamps are stationary relative to the car. The
car moves. (What? You've got a better explanation?) And anyway, the
standard term in the US is "headlights."

We would say headlights too.

 

[Farmall]

That's because the headlamps are stationary relative to the car. The
car moves. (What? You've got a better explanation?) And anyway, the
standard term in the US is "headlights."

You bet... as in look at the headlights on that one! LOL

Yes, I'm showing my age... automobies used to have lanterns, big'uns, I
remember pre sealed beams.

 

[Robert Bannister]

A lamp is usually fixed, stays in one place, solid construction. The
lamp on your study desk, or in your lounge room (fixed on a pole) is
unlikely to be called a lantern.

A lantern tends more portable, often made of flimsier materials such as
paper. Is often found in the phrase "Chinese lantern".

Unless this is a regional difference, I have to disagree with that. I
can think of many types of lamp that are portable. In fact, I would say
most portable lights are likely to be called lamps. "Lantern" is
primarily an old-fashioned word, so as soon as you hear it, you expect
either a period setting or possibly an exotic one (as with Chinese
lanterns).

I cannot imagine anyone using "lantern" in everyday speech, but I do not
see it as either being "more portable" or "made of flimsier materials".
If I read "The old man staggered along the lane, holding up his lantern
to avoid the potholes", I would imagine a sturdy, but battered brass and
glass lamp powered by oil or candle, and I would know the scene was set
at least a century ago.

 

[Robert Bannister]

From the OED:

lamp . noun 1 an electric, oil, or gas device for giving light.
ORIGIN Greek lampas 'torch'.

lantern . noun 1 a lamp with a transparent case protecting the flame or
electric bulb.
ORIGIN Latin lanterna, from Greek lampter 'lamp'.

As you can see from the definitions, a "lantern" is a specific type of
"lamp". In common American usage, consideration of portability would
influence your choice. One would, for example, speak of using a "lantern"
rather than a "lamp" to go cave-exploring.

So it is pondial. That use of "lantern" sound really quaint to my ears.
I used to go caving, and when I first started, we still used carbide
lamps. Electric lamps with their clumsy and heavy batteries came later.
We didn't call either of them "lanterns".

 

[Alan]

"Robert Bannister" wrote

So it is pondial. That use of "lantern" sound really quaint to my ears. I
used to go caving, and when I first started, we still used carbide lamps.
Electric lamps with their clumsy and heavy batteries came later. We didn't
call either of them "lanterns".

You can probably tell that I've never explored a cave. Someone else also
pointed out that the devices commonly used for that are called "carbide
lamps" and not "carbide lanterns".
You will see, however, that one of the largest US manufacturers of camping
equipment uses the word "lantern" to refer to their protected, portable
lighting devices. Go to http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp, do a search
for "lantern", and you'll see a few models. Just out of curiosity, would
you take a look at those Coleman "lanterns" and let me know what British
campers would call them? Thanks. By the way, Coleman also makes "lamps"
("table lamps", to be specific), but they all have shades on them and appear
less portable than their "lanterns".

 

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

I cannot imagine anyone using "lantern" in everyday speech,

In American parlance, the propane-fueled light-emitting devices used
when camping are typically called "lanterns". See

http://tinyurl.com/cl4as
<URL:http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/
subcategory.asp?CategoryID=1010>

Are those "lamps" down under?

I've got to agree with Jim Follett: if it can be carried, dangling
from a handle or similarly hung on a bracket or branch, it's a
"lantern". Otherwise, it's a "lamp" (or a "light").

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |He seems to be perceptive and
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |effective because he states the
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |obvious to people that don't seem
|to see the obvious.
[email protected] |
(650)857-7572 | Tony Cooper

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

 

[Steve Hayes]

Unless this is a regional difference, I have to disagree with that. I
can think of many types of lamp that are portable. In fact, I would say
most portable lights are likely to be called lamps. "Lantern" is
primarily an old-fashioned word, so as soon as you hear it, you expect
either a period setting or possibly an exotic one (as with Chinese
lanterns).

I checked my dictionary (perhaps should have done that earlier) and according
to that source the difference is that a lantern is a lamp with a protective
case (as others have noted). Where as a lamp is a source of illumination.

So a lantern is always a lamp, but not every lamp is a lantern.

To me "lantern", like "whilst" and "amongst" has a slightly old-fasioned
sound, but one could go one sep further and spell it "lanthorn".

 

[Peter Duncanson]

"Robert Bannister" wrote

You can probably tell that I've never explored a cave. Someone else also
pointed out that the devices commonly used for that are called "carbide
lamps" and not "carbide lanterns".
You will see, however, that one of the largest US manufacturers of camping
equipment uses the word "lantern" to refer to their protected, portable
lighting devices. Go to http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp, do a search
for "lantern", and you'll see a few models. Just out of curiosity, would
you take a look at those Coleman "lanterns" and let me know what British
campers would call them? Thanks. By the way, Coleman also makes "lamps"
("table lamps", to be specific), but they all have shades on them and appear
less portable than their "lanterns".

Coleman lanterns are sold in the UK, described as "Lanterns".

If you go to:
http://www.fieldandtrek.com/
and search for lantern you will see 5 lanterns. Each has a pivoting wire
handle for carrying and/or hanging. When not in use the handle hangs
down at the side of the lantern.

 

[Rich Grise]

You bet... as in look at the headlights on that one! LOL

Yes, I'm showing my age... automobies used to have lanterns, big'uns, I
remember pre sealed beams.

That's come full circle - the last new car I bought (1988 Mustang) had
halogen bulbs in big aluminum-plated lexan reflectors.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Bill Bonde ('Soli Deo Gloria')]

In message
<43d3006b$0$514$61c65585@uq-127creek-reader-03.brisbane.pipenetworks.com.


In modern usage, a lantern has a handle; a torch or flashlight does not.

The manufacturers call those torches/flashlights with the 6 volt lantern
battery in them and the plastic handle, "lanterns", but when people ask
for them, I don't recall them being called "lanterns". People just want
a flashlight.

Oil lamps have handles and aren't called "lanterns". I think of a
lantern as a white gas Coleman type device with one or two mantels at a
white hot glow.


--
"He named his second child Jim after the horse that had brought him to
Washington. He caught his son one day writing 'James' on his lessons,
and he told the boy without raising his voice that if he had wanted to
name him 'James', that is what he would have done." -+Edward P. Jones,
"The Known World"

 

[Robert Bannister]

In American parlance, the propane-fueled light-emitting devices used
when camping are typically called "lanterns". See

http://tinyurl.com/cl4as
<URL:http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/
subcategory.asp?CategoryID=1010>

Are those "lamps" down under?

I've got to agree with Jim Follett: if it can be carried, dangling
from a handle or similarly hung on a bracket or branch, it's a
"lantern". Otherwise, it's a "lamp" (or a "light").

I got rid of my tilly lamps about 3 years ago along with all the rest of
my camping gear. Yes, "lamps": tilly lamp, gas lamp, camping lamp - or,
of course, "light".