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 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

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

From The Photoplay A Psychological Study by Münsterberg, Hugo