phantasmagoria
[ fan-taz-muh-gawr-ee-uh, -gohr- ]
/ fænˌtæz məˈgɔr i ə, -ˈgoʊr- /
noun
a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.
a changing scene made up of many elements.
an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.
RELATED WORDS
phantom, aberration, apparition, trip, fantasy, mirage, phantasm, illusion, vision, wraith, phantasmagory
Nearby words
- phanotron,
- phantasia,
- phantasize,
- phantasm,
- phantasma,
- phantasmagoric,
- phantasmagorical,
- phantasmagory,
- phantasmal,
- phantasmatic
Origin of phantasmagoria
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for phantasmagoria
phantasmagoria
phantasmagory (fænˈtæzməɡərɪ)
/ (ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːrɪə) /
noun
psychol a shifting medley of real or imagined figures, as in a dream
films a sequence of pictures made to vary in size rapidly while remaining in focus
rare a shifting scene composed of different elements
Word Origin for phantasmagoria
C19: probably from French fantasmagorie production of phantasms, from phantasm + -agorie, perhaps from Greek ageirein to gather together
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
phantasmagoria
1802, name of a "magic lantern" exhibition brought to London in 1802 by Parisian showman Paul de Philipstal, the name an alteration of French phantasmagorie, said to have been coined 1801 by French dramatist Louis-Sébastien Mercier as though to mean "crowd of phantoms," from Greek phantasma "image, phantom, apparition" (see phantasm) + second element probably a French form of Greek agora "assembly" (but this may have been chosen more for the dramatic sound than any literal sense). Transferred meaning "shifting scene of many elements" is attested from 1822. Related: Phantasmagorical.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
phantasmagoria
[ făn-tăz′mə-gôr′ē-ə ]
n. pl. phan•tas•ma•go•ri•as
A fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.