Hi All Could someone please enlighten me to the correct use of the words “lamp” and “lantern”. I had this spark of an idea to get it right, yes I have a burning desire to get the terms right so as not to inflame anyone. Cheers Pete
hi Peter, I was wondering if is because lamp, as in ''street lamp'' being tall, and lantern because they were carried in the hand as portable
Sticking my neck out a bit but I think it goes like this. A lantern is a lamp but a lamp is not necessarily a lantern. Generally, it seems to me if it's for indoor its a lamp and out door a lantern. Looking forward to see the exceptions.
A lantern shall also be portable. The lamp above is not really what you would call portable. That's why lanterns generally has a handle.
Generally I make the switch when it pussposed to be standing so needs a (flat) surface or hanging and portable in use.
I though you Aussies (and maybe Kiwis, too) called them all 'lights'... But I generally go with what others have written above; a lantern is a portable outdoor lamp without a specific purpose - something you might use personally to light your way or use generally to provide illumination outdoors. Otherwise, they're lamps - table lamps, wall lamps, ceiling lamps etc. I guess something like, for example, a Tilley AL15 or AL620 is an inspection lamp because it has a specific purpose i.e. inspecting things, even though you might use it outdoors. My brain hurts...
Thanks everyone for your input. So it seems that the consensus is: Lamp is for inside use, e.g. table lamps, wall lamps and hanging lamps. Lanterns are for outdoors and usually require a handle or bail to carry. Lights antipodeon for anything that gives illumination in the dark ..... Cheers Pete
Ahhh. I love it . Brilliant. That would make an EX100 a lantern. But also a lamp. For those not so into Tilley, this is an EX100.
I grew up in rural NEw South Wales, Australia. In my part of the world, Tilleys were colloquially called “Tilley lamps” whether they were lamps or lanterns, and regardless of advertising. “Tilley lamp” or just “Tilley” was used colloquially for pressure lamps in general. I don’t recall ever hearing them called “lights”. Lights were those newfangled electric things. Cheers Tony
@Tony Press the "light" reference is there for the benefit of our Pommie comrades, in particular @David Shouksmith, that should tickle his fancy ....... Cheers Peter
No, the term lamp cover all, even those you use outdoors. They are all lamps. It's just that the term lantern narrow it down a bit further, but a lantern is still a lamp. Just a more specific type of lamp.
In German there is a definition which is (in short): The lamp is the device which produces the light (and that device only). It can be placed in an lantern to protect it. So a candle / kero burner / light bulb is a lamp, the thing you put it into is a luninaire or a lantern. Well, almost nobody uses the words correctly according to the definition. So a little bit more convenient may be: a lantern is made for carrying around, a lamp stays at its place. Erik
It's not that easy. E.g. inspection lamps are never called lanterns, and they are meant to be carried around. But again, they are all lamps. Lamp is just simply a wider term.
In architecture a lantern is defined as a structure at the top of a building, commonly at the apex of a cupola, to admit light and allow smoke to exhaust. The lantern has a cover, roof, supported on pillars. In engineering a “lantern ring” is a device used in gland packing used to seal a rotating shaft usually where it is required to seal the shaft in both directions for example, when pumping toxic or hazardous materials. You do not want the hazardous material to migrate to the motor driving the pump or lubricant of the motor migrating into the medium being pumped. Some installations may have more than one lantern ring. At each lantern ring in the gland there is usually facility to drain the gland back to the appropriate side, e.g. on the pump side the drain goes back to the intake, negative pressure side of the pump. Commonly the lantern ring is phosphor-bronze or stainless steel ring with a series of slots or holes around it’s periphery to allow for the passage of the leakage. Sorry if that’s a bit technical. Given all that a lantern is a pair of rings separated by pillars. I would posit that most outdoor lamps are lanterns but if an indoor lamp has a cowl supported on pillars it is a lantern!
In my early years if I was asked to get the lamp I would have brought the glass table lamp wick with a tall chimney, if asked to get the lantern it would have been the Hurricane lamp (Lanora / Rayo / Feuerhand or other brand ?) We did have a Pork pie Tilley which was only lit when Dad got home (Mum had one flare up (insuficient pre) heat and would not go near it. (my asumption?))
Lily of the Lamplight By Tommie Connor, 1944 Underneath the lantern, By the barrack gate Darling I remember The way you used to wait T'was there that you whispered tenderly, That you loved me, You'd always be, My Lilli of the Lamplight, My own Lilli Marlene Time would come for roll call, Time for us to part, Darling I'd caress you And press you to my heart, And there 'neath that far-off lantern light, I'd hold you tight, We'd kiss good night, My Lilli of the Lamplight, My own Lilli Marlene Orders came for sailing, Somewhere over there All confined to barracks was more than I could bear I knew you were waiting in the street I heard your feet, But could not meet, My Lilly of the Lamplight, my own Lilly Marlene Resting in our billets, Just behind the lines Even tho' we're parted, Your lips are close to mine You wait where that lantern softly gleams, Your sweet face seems To haunt my dreams My Lilly of the Lamplight, My own Lilly Marlene
Welcome @E.B.H. from Queensland Australia. The poem / song is rather poignant. Sad really when people were parted, perhaps never to see each other again, because of conflict. Let’s hope he returned to be with his Lilly of the lamplight. Cheers Pete
