chandelier
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An elaborate chandelier 
Two chandeliers, stacked with fascines. (The image is cut off, there is an unseen third chandelier to the left.)
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French chandelier, from Latin candelabrum, from candela (“a candle”). Doublet of candelabrum. See also candle.
Pronunciation
Noun
chandelier (plural chandeliers)
- 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?
- (originally, specifically) One lit by candles.
- (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.
- (surgery) An endoilluminator used in eye surgery.
- (obsolete, military) A portable frame used to support temporary wooden fences.
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").
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
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Further reading
- “chandelier”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E Smith, editors (1911), “chandelier”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Latin candēlābrum, with a change in suffix. Doublet of candélabre.
Noun
chandelier m (plural chandeliers)
Related terms
Etymology 2
From chandelle + -ier, or from Medieval Latin candelārius. Compare Catalan candeler, Italian candelaio, Spanish candelero.
Noun
chandelier m (plural chandeliers)
Further reading
- “chandelier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Spanish
Noun
chandelier m (plural chandelieres)