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

Georgia Hallgalley and Jake Hawker say they will have a projector showing the football at their wedding reception in Guildford to avoid guests missing out on the big game.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

A giant projector screen at the end of the room lit up with the moving image of Belgium against New Zealand in the World Cup, the big tie of the penultimate night of group games.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

But she drew the line at his request for a projector showing the Knicks game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Footage of giant yellow black-eyed Susan flowers beams onto the wall from one projector, intersecting with video of swaying plants from another.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

The curtains were drawn shut and the projector was sitting on one of the bedside tables that had been pulled over so it faced him from the doorway.

From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

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

Facilities are now included in the Grand for projectors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026

He searched between all of his holographic projectors mounted in the catwalks above the stage, and under auditorium seats, and in the bandstand.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles