jack-o-lantern
/ˈdʒæk.oʊˌlæn.tɚn/noun
Carved, illuminated lantern, especially a Halloween pumpkin
From English jack-o-lantern (A lantern-bearing watchman or flickering marsh light).
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Modern English
jack-o-lantern — Carved, illuminated lantern, especially a Halloween pumpkin
The story
A jack-o-lantern is now most familiar as a carved pumpkin glowing at Halloween, but the name first referred to a different kind of eerie light. In English, the expression was used for ignis fatuus—the flickering light of folklore—and also for a man carrying a lantern, such as a night watchman. The term for the strange light is recorded in Britain from 1658; uses for a lantern-bearing man or night watchman are recorded from 1663 to 1704.
The name was also connected with the Irish tale of Stingy Jack, who, after being barred from both Heaven and Hell, wanders with a burning coal inside a hollowed turnip. This is a suggested explanation for the name, rather than a certain account of its origin. The carved-vegetable sense is recorded by 1837 in the supplied account, while the queried spelling jack-o-lantern is an alternative form of jack-o'-lantern.
Words from the same roots
jack-o-lantern · English, ‘A lantern-bearing watchman or flickering marsh light; later, a carved lantern’
Derivedlantern, will-o'-the-wisp
Sources
- Wikipediajack-o-lantern
- Wiktionaryjack-o-lantern, jack-o'-lantern