mutoscope means A motion-picture device of the late nineteenth century, to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole. It carries an Arena rating of 1440, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mutoscope ranks #329 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,466 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,539 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,997 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
Why “mutoscope” is a great word
A motion-picture device for viewing brief, looping sequences through a peephole, designed for solitary viewing. Its name, originally a trademark, fuses Latin mutare ("to change") with the combining form -scope ("instrument for viewing"). Unlike the "kinetoscope" (an earlier, electrically-powered peep-show) or the "vitascope" (an early film projector for a crowd), the mutoscope was a hand-cranked, tactile machine, employing a flip-card mechanism. It is the rasp of a thumb against a cold brass crank, the flicker of sepia light on a woman’s parasol as it opens, and the muffled darkness of a brow pressed against the wooden hood—a transient illusion conjured by human effort and consumed alone, a tiny, repeatable miracle held in the gathering dark.
Etymology
Originally a trademark, from Latin mutare (“to change”), and -scope.
noun
- A motion-picture device of the late nineteenth century, to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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