thaumatrope

[ thaw-muh-trohp ]

noun

1. a card with different pictures on opposite sides, as a horse on one side and a rider on the other, which appear as if combined when the card is twirled rapidly, thus illustrating the persistence of visual impressions.

thaumatrope

/ ˈθɔːməˌtrəʊp; ˌθɔːməˈtrɒpɪkəl /

noun

1. a toy in which partial pictures on the two sides of a card appear to merge when the card is twirled rapidly

Derived Forms

• thaumatropical, adjective

Other Words From

• thau·ma·trop·i·cal [thaw-m, uh, -, trop, -i-k, uh, l], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of thaumatrope¹

First recorded in 1820–30; thauma(to)- + -trope

Word History and Origins

Origin of thaumatrope¹

C19: from thaumato- + -trope

Example Sentences

White pointed to the 2008 launch of an online publication dedicated to speculative fiction from Twitter called Thaumatrope in addition to the NYT piece that inspired him, and a year before either of those, Oregon-based cartoonist Dylan Meconis found herself creating what may well have claim to being the first narrative to truly explored the interactive potential of Twitter as a medium.

From Time

Zoetrope, zō′e-trōp, n. a scientific toy by which several pictures of objects or persons in various positions are combined into one visual impression, so as to give the appearance of movement or life—the Thaumatrope and Praxinoscope are variations.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

The names evoke arcane, ancient mysteries: the thaumatrope, the phenakistoscope, the zoetrope.

From New York Times

A display of 58 machines -- from the 1835 thaumatrope to tomorrow's Sony GV-8 Video Walkman -- pulses with the gimcrack genius of those anonymous technicians who gave artists the tools to dream with.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are very few things, my dear Charles, worth mention: on a retrospect of life, the day’s flash and colour, one day with another, flames, dazzles, and puts to sleep; and when the days are gone, like a fast-flying thaumatrope, they make but a single pattern.

From Project Gutenberg