thaumatrope

American  

[thaw-muh-trohp] / ˈθɔ məˌtroʊp /

noun

1. a card with different pictures on opposite sides, as a horse on one side and a rider on the other, which appear as if combined when the card is twirled rapidly, thus illustrating the persistence of visual impressions.

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thaumatrope British  

/ ˈθɔːməˌtrəʊp, ˌθɔːməˈtrɒpɪkəl /

noun

1. a toy in which partial pictures on the two sides of a card appear to merge when the card is twirled rapidly

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Other Word Forms

• thaumatropical adjective

Etymology

Origin of thaumatrope

First recorded in 1820–30; thauma(to)- + -trope

Example Sentences

A display of 58 machines -- from the 1835 thaumatrope to tomorrow's Sony GV-8 Video Walkman -- pulses with the gimcrack genius of those anonymous technicians who gave artists the tools to dream with.

From Time Magazine Archive

The friends of the zoötrope surely knew another little plaything, the thaumatrope.

From The Photoplay A Psychological Study by Münsterberg, Hugo

The square, he said, went round him like a thaumatrope; he saw the Alhambra leap into the air like a balloon; and reeled against the railing.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 5 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis