fanlight

English

Etymology

From fan + light (window).

Noun

fanlight (plural fanlights)

  1. A semicircular or semioval window over a door or other window, normally having a fan-like structure of ribs; sometimes hinged to the transom.
    • 1886, Robert Louis Stevensony, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
      One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr. Utterson stopped and knocked. A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.
    • 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 65:
      This street is Summer. Faces of brick run together to make a single block-long face. The house numbers are set in fanlights of stained glass above the doors.
    • 1982, John Banville, The Newton Letter:
      It turned out to be a big gloomy pile with ivy and peeling walls and a smashed fanlight over the door, the kind of place where you picture a mad stepdaughter locked up in the attic.
  2. An electric fan, usually a ceiling fan, that is also a light fixture.

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