龕がん灯どう

noun

Buddhist altar light

A light placed on a Buddhist altar. This is the original, literal meaning, but the word is now rare and mostly encountered in historical or religious contexts.

• 古ふるいお寺てらで龕がん灯どうを見みたことがある。

  I once saw a Buddhist altar light at an old temple.

noun

flashlight-like lantern with a freely rotating candle

Abbreviation of 龕灯提灯 (がんどうちょうちん). A portable lantern with a gimbal-mounted candle that always points the light forward, used historically. Now a historical term; modern equivalents are flashlights.

See also: 強盗提灯

• 時じ代だい劇げきで、夜よ道みちを歩あるく侍さむらいががんどうを手てにしている場ば面めんがある。

  In period dramas, there are scenes where a samurai walking at night holds a gimbal lantern.