projector

American  

[pruh-jek-ter] / prəˈdʒɛk tər /

noun

• projectors
  plural

1. an apparatus for throwing an image on a screen, as a motion-picture projector or magic lantern.

2. a device for projecting a beam of light.

3. a person who forms projects or plans.

4. Archaic. a person who devises underhanded or unsound plans; schemer.

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projector British  

/ prəˈdʒɛktə /

noun

1. Full name: slide projector.  an optical instrument that projects an enlarged image of individual slides onto a screen or wall

2. Full name: film projector.   cine projector.  an optical instrument in which a strip of film is wound past a lens at a fixed speed so that the frames can be viewed as a continuously moving sequence on a screen or wall

3. a device for projecting a light beam

4. a person who devises projects

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• projectors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of projector

First recorded in 1590–1600; project + -or ²

Explanation

A projector is a machine you use for showing movies or images on a screen. In the days before digital cameras, tourists would frequently take pictures with slide film that they could show their friends later with a projector. Today, most theaters use digital equipment to show movies, although a few are still filmed on actual film and require an old-fashioned projector. While these days a teacher might use a large television and a laptop to show the class an educational film, they would once have had to use a projector and a film strip. Projector comes from the verb project, "cast an image," from Latin roots pro-, "forward," and iacere, "to throw."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

projector projectors

It and ends with him turning off the projector and literally hanging up his cleats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The projector returned to the museum a few months ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Other titles to be shown using the VistaVision projector include John Sturges’ “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” Robert Lewis’ musical “Anything Goes” and Michael Curtiz’s comedy “We’re No Angels.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Instead of straining vegetables and pasta, you can use a colander to achieve a similar effect to that of the pinhole projector.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

While the flickering beam of the movie projector slants through the darkness over her head, Tessie admits to herself that she doesn’t want to marry Michael Antoniou.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Those unable to find glasses used other methods, including colanders as pinhole projectors to cast multiple images of the eclipse.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

While there are more than 50 Imax screens in the UK, only three are showing it using 70mm film projectors - the BFI and Science Museum in London, and Printworks in Manchester.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

But can all 2,000 of our theaters be film projectors?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

It’s an admirable acknowledgement of those behind the scenes, slotting film reels into the Dryden’s 75-year-old projectors, summoning shimmering worlds before our eyes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

“Brilliant is an understatement,” Regan said, leaning forward to inspect one of the projectors.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin