zoetrope

[ zoh-ee-trohp ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a device for giving an illusion of motion, consisting of a slitted drum that, when whirled, shows a succession of images placed opposite the slits within the drum as one moving image.

zoetrope

/ ˈzəʊɪˌtrəʊp /

a cylinder-shaped toy with a sequence of pictures on its inner surface which, when viewed through the vertical slits spaced regularly around it while the toy is rotated, produce an illusion of animation

1865–70; irregular < Greek zōḗ life + tropḗ turn

C19: Greek zoe life + trope turn

After Lucy Fisher became head of production for Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studios, he could barely contain his envy.

Avenues of poplars on both sides of the road chased each other like the figures in a zoetrope.

If they happened to pass on a bicycle it was the merest zoetrope-flicker and they were gone.

With the discovery of instantaneous photography, a new application of the principle of the zoetrope was found.

My zoetrope thus worked off itself, and piled up Karma for all the village whether anyone happened to be looking at it or not.

The zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, which appeared first in 1860, is a modification of the same idea.

April 23, 2024inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

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