FANLIGHT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fanlight mean? 

• FANLIGHT (noun)
  The noun FANLIGHT has 3 senses:

1. a window above a door that is usually hinged to a horizontal crosspiece over the door

2. a window in a roof to admit daylight

3. a semicircular window over a door or window; usually has sash bars like the ribs of a fan

  Familiarity information: FANLIGHT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FANLIGHT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A window above a door that is usually hinged to a horizontal crosspiece over the door

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fanlight; transom; transom window

Hypernyms ("fanlight" is a kind of...):

window (a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A window in a roof to admit daylight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fanlight; skylight

Hypernyms ("fanlight" is a kind of...):

window (a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A semicircular window over a door or window; usually has sash bars like the ribs of a fan

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("fanlight" is a kind of...):

window (a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air)

 Context examples 

Had it not been too fiendish, I could have imagined that the gleam of the fanlight showed exultation in his face.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The occupants had evidently retired to rest, for all was dark save for a fanlight over the hall door, which shed a single blurred circle on to the garden path.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

As I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes’s cold, thin fingers closed round my wrist and led me forward down a long hall, until I dimly saw the murky fanlight over the door.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)