zoetrope

[ zoh-ee-trohp ]

/ ˈzoʊ iˌtroʊp /

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noun

a device for giving an illusion of motion, consisting of a slitted drum that, when whirled, shows a succession of images placed opposite the slits within the drum as one moving image.

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Origin of zoetrope

1865–70; irregular <Greek zōḗ life + tropḗ turn

Words nearby zoetrope

zodiac, zodiacal constellation, zodiacal light, Zoe, zoea, zoetrope, Zoffany, Zog I, Zohar, zoic, zoisite

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use zoetrope in a sentence

After Lucy Fisher became head of production for Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studios, he could barely contain his envy.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon|Robert Sam Anson|March 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Avenues of poplars on both sides of the road chased each other like the figures in a zoetrope.
The Ball and The Cross|G.K. Chesterton
If they happened to pass on a bicycle it was the merest zoetrope-flicker and they were gone.
The Tower of Oblivion|Oliver Onions
With the discovery of instantaneous photography, a new application of the principle of the zoetrope was found.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, May 1899|Various

My zoetrope thus worked off itself, and piled up Karma for all the village whether anyone happened to be looking at it or not.
Hilda Wade|Grant Allen
The zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, which appeared first in 1860, is a modification of the same idea.
The Romance of Modern Invention|Archibald Williams

British Dictionary definitions for zoetrope

zoetrope

/ (ˈzəʊɪˌtrəʊp) /

noun

a cylinder-shaped toy with a sequence of pictures on its inner surface which, when viewed through the vertical slits spaced regularly around it while the toy is rotated, produce an illusion of animation

Word Origin for zoetrope

C19: Greek zoe life + trope turn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012