jack-o'-lantern

• jack-o-lantern, jack o'lantern, Jack O'Lantern

Originally, a night watchman who carried a lantern. See Jack. First attested as a term for ignis fatuus in English folklore in the 1660s, mostly in East Anglia but also in southwestern England. The sense of a carved pumpkin (sense 2) is first attested in 1834.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæk.əʊˌlæn.tən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæk.oʊˌlæn.təɹn/, /ˈdʒæk.əˌlæn.təɹn/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Hyphenation: jack-o'-lan‧tern

jack-o'-lantern (plural jack-o'-lanterns)

1. (archaic) A will o' the wisp. [from 1660s]

   Synonyms: ignis fatuus, (West Country) hinkypunk, (West Country) Joan the wad, (Hertfordshire, East Anglia) hobby lantern, (Lancashire) peg-a-lantern, (Shropshire) Will the Smith, (Worcestershire) Pinket, (Norfolk) Will o' the Wikes, (archaic) Jack-with-a-lantern

   • 1871, James Russell Lowell, “My Study Windows”, in My Garden Acquaintance:

     [Newspaper speculations] supplying so many more jack-o'-lanterns to the future historian

3. A carved pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decorated to represent a face, illuminated from within by a candle. It is a symbol of Halloween. [from 1830s]
   • 2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, paperback edition, page 218:

     He had a jocose jack-o'-lantern grin, big crooked nicotine-stained teeth, and a full droopy dark moustache and wiry whiskers hiding a weak chin. (attributive use)

   1. A similar item made from a turnip

• → Japanese: ジャックオランタン (jakku-o-rantan)
• → Korean: 잭오랜턴 (jaeg-o-raenteon)