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Candelabra

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A candelabrum with three branches, empty of candles.
Candelabra used for state occasions at the Belgian court (1960)

A candelabra (plural candelabras) or candelabrum (plural candelabra or candelabrums) is a candle holder with multiple arms.[1][2][3]

Although electricity has relegated candleholders to decorative use, interior designers continue to model light fixtures and lighting accessories after candelabra and candlesticks. Accordingly, the term candelabra has entered common use to describe small-based light bulbs used in chandeliers and other lighting fixtures made for decoration as well as lighting.

In Judaism and in the Philippine religion Iglesia ni Cristo, the menorah is a special kind of candelabrum.

Crystal candelabrum from Portieux

Singular and plural

This word originally came from Latin, in which candelabrum is the singular form and candelabra is the plural. Over time, English usage changed so that candelabra as the singular and candelabras as the plural is now the more common usage.[4]

Candelabra antennas

In the United States and Canada, the word candelabra is used to refer to radio masts and towers with multiple transmission antennas. Baltimore's TV stations, WMAR-TV, WBAL-TV, and WJZ-TV in 1959 built the world’s first three-antenna candelabra tower, 730 feet tall. Other examples include the Mount Royal Candelabra in Montreal, the KXTV/KOVR/KCRA Tower, KSMO Candelabra Tower, KMBC/KCWE Candelabra Tower, the Madison Community Candelabra Tower in Madison, and Sutro Tower in San Francisco.

See also

  • Candlestick
  • Chandelier
  • Girandole
  • Julleuchter
  • Ljuskrona
  • Menorah
  • Charlottenburg Candelabra a pair of ornamental colonnades in west Berlin with a passing resemblance to candelabra

References

  1. ^ Shorter Oxford English dictionary, 6th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 2007. p. 3804. ISBN 0199206872.
  2. ^ "candelabra". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Candelabra - Define Candelabra at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Word of the Day: candelabra". Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

External links

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