chandelier - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

An elaborate chandelier

Two chandeliers, stacked with fascines. (The image is cut off, there is an unseen third chandelier to the left.)

Borrowed from French chandelier, from Latin candelabrum, from candela (“a candle”). Doublet of candelabrum. See also candle.

chandelier (plural chandeliers)

  1. A branched, often ornate, light fixture suspended from a ceiling.
    Hyponyms: electrolier, gasalier, gasolier
    • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, chapter VII, in A House Is Built, section vi:
      She opened the drawing-room door in trepidation. Would she find Esther drowned with her head in the goldfish bowl, or hanged from the chandelier by her stay-lace?
    1. (originally, specifically) One lit by candles.
  2. (auction, often attributive) A fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction.
    Synonym: wall
    • 2007, Frank Pope, "Dragon Sea: a true tale of treasure, archeology, and greed off the coast of Vietnam", Harcourt Books, p. 306.
      A mysterious phone bidder was grabbing the pieces that no one else wanted—Mensun suspected this was the auction house "bidding against the chandelier," protecting itself against selling too low.
    • 2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN:
      The bids are usually real but can be fake or ‘chandelier’ bids (non-existing bids taken ‘off the chandelier’) on behalf of the consignor, or bids left with the auctioneer in advance.
  3. (surgery) An endoilluminator used in eye surgery.
  4. (obsolete, military) A portable frame used to support temporary wooden fences.
    • [**1747**, James Boswell, The Scots Book, volume IX, page 37:
      Chandelier. A wooden frame, whereon are laid fascines or faggots, to cover the workmen in making approaches.]
    • 1994, Todd A. Shallat, Structures in the Stream: Water, Science, and the Rise of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Texas Press, page 32:
      Europeans solved this problem by building a temporary fence with tightly bound sticks ("fascines") stacked into wooden frames ("chandeliers").

branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling

Inherited from Latin candēlābrum, with a change in suffix. Doublet of candélabre.

chandelier m (plural chandeliers)

  1. candlestick
  2. chandelier

From chandelle +‎ -ier, or from Medieval Latin candelārius. Compare Catalan candeler, Italian candelaio, Spanish candelero.

chandelier m (plural chandeliers)

  1. candlemaker

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