Chandelier

How to spell chandelier

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce chandelier

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does chandelier mean?

1. nounA decorative branched light fixture that hangs from the ceiling and holds several bulbs or candles.

Chandelier in a sentence

• A crystal chandelier hung above the dining table.

• The hotel lobby was lit by an enormous brass chandelier.

Where does chandelier come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English directly from French chandelier, which originally meant a candlestick or candle-holder. The French form was built on chandelle, meaning 'candle', which descends from the Latin candela, a thin wax light. That Latin noun in turn grew from the verb candere, meaning 'to shine' or 'to glow white', the same root that gives us 'candle', 'candid', and 'incandescent'. English borrowed chandelier in the 1700s as the fashion for grand hanging fixtures holding many candles spread through stately homes, and the meaning shifted from a single candle-holder to the ornate branched fitting we picture today. The tricky spelling, with its French 'cha-' giving an unexpected 'sh' sound and the silent-feeling '-ier' ending, is a direct fingerprint of that French ancestry.

How the word is built

• chandel- (from French chandelle: candle, from Latin candela)
• -ier (noun suffix denoting a holder or maker)