Limelight

Description

An early type of light that produced an intense beam. Developed in 1816, calcium lights, or limelights, were used as spotlights for theater stages. They produced illumination by burning a piece of lime in an oxyhydrogen flame. A lens system was used to focus the brilliant white light into a strong beam.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Drummond light; calcium light; Acetylen-Lampe (Deut.); lâmpada de acetileno (Port.)

Authority

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998