carousel

¹

Sometimes car·rou·sel

[kar-uh-sel, kar-uh-sel]

noun

1. merry-go-round.

2. a continuously revolving belt, track or other device on which items are placed for later retrieval.

   a baggage carousel at an airport.

Carousel

²

[kar-uh-sel, kar-uh-sel]

Trademark.

1. a circular tray in which photographic transparencies are held on a projector and from which they are lowered through slots for projection as the tray is rotated.

carousel

/ ˌkærəˈsɛl, -ˈzɛl /

noun

1. a circular magazine in which slides for a projector are held: it moves round as each slide is shown

2. a rotating conveyor belt for luggage, as at an airport

3. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): merry-go-round.  roundabout. a revolving circular platform provided with wooden animals, seats, etc, on which people ride for amusement

4. history a tournament in which horsemen took part in races and various manoeuvres in formation

Word History and Origins

Origin of carousel¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from French: “kind of tournament,” from Italian carosello “kind of ball game,” from Neapolitan dialect carusello “game played with clay balls, clay ball,” literally, “little head,” equivalent to carus(o) “shorn head” (perhaps based on the Greek stem kors- “shave”) + -ello diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of carousel¹

C17: from French carrousel, from Italian carosello, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

So the 33-year-old found himself eating pan-fried noodles 200 miles north of the megalopolis in a restaurant shaped like a carousel.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s an ice cream parlor, a food hall, and a bar shaped like a luggage carousel.

From Los Angeles Times

“I’m sorry I always go MIA I love you guys,” the 28-year-old model and activist captioned her Instagram carousel, shared Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times

Start with its resemblance to an eye that’s been knocked out of a skull — identical to a human eyeball, until it displays a carousel of irises.

From Salon

The Griffith Park carousel — a “crown jewel” of the park, where Walt Disney first dreamed up Disneyland — is getting a new lease on life just in time for its 2026 centennial.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• roundabout 
• whirligig