phantasmagoria
UK /ˌfæntæzməˈɡɒɹi.ə/ · US /ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːɹi.ə/ noun
Forms phantasmagorias phantasmagory fantasmagoria
- noun (historical) A popular 18th- and 19th-century form of theater entertainment whereby ghostly apparitions are formed.
- noun A series of events involving rapid changes in light intensity and color.
- noun A dreamlike state where real and imagined elements are blurred together.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French phantasmagorie, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “ghost”) + possibly either ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly, gathering”) + the suffix -ia or ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak publicly”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An optical effect produced by a magic lantern. The figures are painted in transparent colors, and all the rest of the glass is opaque black. The screen is between the spectators and the instrument, and the figures are often made to appear as in motion, or to merge into one another.
- noun The apparatus by which such an effect is produced.
Etymology [NL., from Gr. phantasmagorie.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “phantasmagoria”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details