回かい転てんのぞき絵え

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Meanings

1

noun

zoetrope

A pre-film animation device consisting of a cylinder with vertical slits and a sequence of images inside; when spun, the viewer sees a moving picture. Also known as ゾートロープ.

Kanji

回-times, round, game
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.

Built from

回かい転てん+絵え

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.