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

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Etymology

Origin of projector

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

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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

Launched in the U.S. in 1896, with the New York premiere of Thomas Edison’s Vitascope film projector, silent movies astonished audiences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Mastering this unusual system has proved a challenge but an exhilarating one, with the print moving at 180 feet per minute, twice the speed of a conventional projector.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

"I've read the safety information and it should be cheap and easy enough to make a pinhole projector."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

I never thought I’d see them in person—it’s way cooler than Mrs. Varner’s dusty film projector.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

Examples include liquid-crystal panels used in projectors and optical chips found in telecommunications systems.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

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

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

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