kaleidoscope English · revision 2182

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈlaɪ.dəˌskəʊp/ ''(UK)''; /kəˈlaɪ.dəˌskoʊp/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined in 1817 by its inventor, the Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster (1781–1868),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|καλός|tr=kalós|t=beautiful]], [[grc|εἶδος|tr=eîdos|t=shape, form]] and English ''-scope'',^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) on the model of ''telescope''.^(Etymonline) It literally means “observer of beautiful forms”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An optical instrument in which loose bits of coloured glass are reflected by mirrors into changing symmetrical patterns (1817).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Kaleidoscopes sold by the thousands in the years after their invention, but Brewster failed to secure a patent.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, a constantly changing pattern of colours or a succession of shifting phases, is first recorded in 1819 in Lord Byron.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The verb dates from 1891.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1817 – the optical toy.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1819 – a constantly changing pattern or series.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1891 – verb, to shift in bright, changing patterns.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tube containing loose bits of coloured glass or plastic and mirrors, which reflect them in endlessly changing symmetrical patterns as the tube is turned.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A constantly changing set of colours or pattern of shapes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A series of changing phases or events; a diverse collection.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kaleidoscopic]]

+ * [[kaleidoscopically]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[telescope]]

+ * [[idol]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}