'Thaumatrope' definitions:

Definition of 'Thaumatrope'

From: GCIDE
  • Thaumatrope \Thau"ma*trope\ (th[add]"m[.a]*tr[=o]p), n. [Gr. qay^ma a wonder + tre`pein to turn.] (Opt.) An optical instrument or toy for showing the persistence of an impression upon the eyes after the luminous object is withdrawn. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: It consists of a card having on its opposite faces figures of two different objects, or halves of the same object, as a bird and a cage, which, when the card is whirled rapidly round a diameter by the strings that hold it, appear to the eye combined in a single picture, as of a bird in its cage. [1913 Webster]