kaleidoscope

See also: kaléidoscope

English

A design seen in the kaleidoscope
The tube of a kaleidoscope

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Ancient Greek καλός (kalós, “beautiful”) + εἶδος (eîdos, “shape”) (compare -oid) +‎ -scope. Coined 1817, by David Brewster, its inventor.[1]

Figurative sense of “constantly changing pattern” attested 1819 by Lord Byron, who had received a kaleidoscope from his publisher.[1]

Noun

kaleidoscope (plural kaleidoscopes)

  1. A tube of mirrors containing loose coloured beads etc. that is rotated to produce a succession of symmetrical designs.
  2. A constantly changing set of colours, or other things.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Verb

kaleidoscope (third-person singular simple present kaleidoscopes, present participle kaleidoscoping, simple past and past participle kaleidoscoped)

  1. (intransitive) To move in shifting patterns.

References

  1. 1 2 “kaleidoscope” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.
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