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. “kaleidoscope” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
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