electrolier

English

Electrolier in the Grand Staircase of Sheffield Town Hall, England

Etymology

By analogy with chandelier, with the electro- prefix to contrast modern electricity with older candles.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˌlɛktɹəˈlɪə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

electrolier (plural electroliers)

1. A fixture, usually hanging from the ceiling, for holding electric lamps.
   • 1917, Sinclair Lewis, “A Woman by Candlelight”, in I'm a Stranger Here Myself and Other Stories, New York: Dell, published 1962, page 50:

     Also, the Hillbridge house was of an even more gorgeous fancifulness than he had remembered, in its tapestry and velours rockers with carved arms, and the storm of light from the bracket lamps and from the electrolier of crimson, pearl and orange mosaic glass.

   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter II, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     At the bottom of the stairs my hand met an electric switch. I turned it, and a great electrolier of twelve red globes flooded the cellar with a red light.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     There was a gigantic electrolier, ten feet high, with upward-curling gilt branches opening into cloudy glass lilies of light.

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 73:

     Each of the eight glass-topped tables featured 'a tiny portable electrolier of a very chaste design'.

Further reading

• electrolier on Wikipedia.Wikipedia