kaleidoscope

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tube containing mirrors and loose colored pieces that form changing symmetrical patterns when rotated

   She turned the kaleidoscope and watched a new star-shaped pattern appear.

2. 2
   noun

   a complex and continually changing mixture, pattern, or sequence

   The market was a kaleidoscope of voices, colors, and unfamiliar scents.

Coined in 1817 by Scottish physicist David Brewster from Greek kalos ('beautiful') + eidos ('form, image') + English -scope ('instrument for viewing'). Its constantly rearranging reflections soon produced the figurative sense of a rapidly changing mixture.

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