Kanji 転 revolve, turn around, change 絵 picture, drawing, painting 覗 peep, peek, come in sight Related words ゾートロープ Katakana loanword for the same device; more common in modern technical or international contexts.
フェナキストスコープ Another early animation device using a spinning disc; related but distinct from the cylindrical zoetrope.
Written forms 回かい 転てん のぞき 絵え
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling for this term.
回かい 転てん 覗のぞ き 絵え
Full kanji spelling using 覗き ; less common but still seen.
Etymology Compound of 回転 (rotation) + のぞき (peeping) + 絵 (picture), literally 'rotating peep-show picture'. The term describes the device's mechanism of viewing images through slits while spinning.
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