kaleidograph

K5A1L1E1I1D2O1G2R1A1P3H4

noun

A late 19th or early 20th century device for duplicating documents that use colored ink, consisting of a tray with a rubbery substance that takes an impression of the document and then transfers it onto blank sheets of paper.

Scrabble 23

Meanings

nounkaleidograph (plural kaleidographs)

plural kaleidographs

  1. A late 19th or early 20th century device for duplicating documents that use colored ink, consisting of a tray with a rubbery substance that takes an impression of the document and then transfers it onto blank sheets of paper.

    The Kaleidograph is claimed to be the only apparatus of the kind adapted for use in all temperatures from 20⁰ to 90⁰.

    1880, Bankers Magazine - Volume 34, page 206
    2 more examples

    Some of the larger additions to the equipment have been for the school; two pianos, six typewriters, five kaleidographs, one stereograph, one embossed globe, twenty-four new desks, more than five hundred books for the library, numerous tables for study room, etc.;

    1902, Colorado. Dept. of Education, Biennial Report - Issue 13, page 500

    In the school department the following subjects are taught: English, writing with stylus, kaleidograph and typewriting, spelling, dramatization, arithmetic, geography, history, current events, nature study, and physiology.

    1919, The Catholic Charities Review - Volumes 3-4, page 246
  2. A device for projecting the colorful patterns produced by a kaleidoscope.

    By means of a device, known as a kaleidograph, the patterns thus formed may be thrown on a screen or a glass.

    1912, Harry Thurston Peck, The Standard Illustrated Book of Facts, page 461
    2 more examples

    Electrical experiments were provided by Mr J. P. Capon, who had a powerful battery at work, and the kaleidograph, lent by Mr. G. Nash, was a never-ceasing source of fascination.

    1874, Brighton and Hove Natural History and Philosophical Society, Abstracts of Papers Read Before the Society, page 80

    PULFRICH, of Zeiss's, has invented a new kaleidograph which gives perfect images of the pretty and instructive figures as seen in the ordinary kaleidoscope.

    1915, Wilson's Photographic Magazine - Volume 52, page 61
  3. figurativelyA changing visual display.

    Swayed by the kaleidograph of inner suggestion primitive tribes abandon themselves hour after hour to the festal chants until the performers reach the point of fatigue,

    1911, Alastair St. Clair Mackenzie, The evolution of literature, page 268

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekκαλός“beautiful”
  2. Englishkaleidograph

From Ancient Greek καλός (kalós, “beautiful”) + -graph.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kaleidograph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaleidograph

MLA

“kaleidograph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaleidograph. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kaleidograph,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaleidograph.

Source: kaleidograph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.