jack-o'-lantern
noun

1.  A lantern made from a hollowed pumpkin with a carved face, usually displayed on Halloween.

2. ignis fatuus. A phosphorescent light that hovers or flits over swampy ground at night, possibly caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by rotting organic matter. Also called friar’s lantern, will-o’-the-wisp, wisp.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language

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ORIGIN

“Jack O’Lantern” was a 17th century term for a night watchman, so called because he carried a lantern on his rounds.

The term was also applied to “will-o’-the-wisps,” the strange lights sometimes seen in swamps and graveyards at night, based on the belief that the lights seen were the lanterns carried by ghostly watchmen making their ghostly rounds. With such a spooky history, it’s not surprising that Jack O’Lanterns became a fixture, and emblem, of Halloween.

Jack o’ Lanterns have been part of Halloween for hundreds of years in both the U.S. and Great Britain, where our familiar “pumpkin lanterns” are often made from large turnips.

Halloween itself is a very, very old holiday. Originally, October 31st was the last day of the old Celtic calendar, and was thought to be the night when witches, warlocks and demons roamed the Earth and the spirits of the dead returned to the land of the living.

With the coming of Christianity to Britain, October 31st became known as All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints (also known as “All Hallows,” or holy persons) Day, November 1st. But the old pagan traditions, including “trick or treating” and pumpkin or turnip lanterns, were retained and integrated into the new holiday, and “Hallows Eve” eventually was slurred to “Halloween.”

The name “Jack O’Lantern” is not nearly as old as Halloween and originally had nothing to do with the holiday.

Thanks to Evan Morris

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SPOOKY Halloween Words  

And as it’s that time of year, here’s a bunch of spooky words with which to spook your friends:

PLEASE SKIP to next section ANTIDOTE WORDS if you are of a sensitive disposition!

apparition, bloodcurdling, brimstone, bumps in the night, grisly, grotesque, cockroaches, crawling, creaking, creeping, dragon, ectoplasm, entomb, exorcism, frozen to the spot, ghost train, growling, groaning, gorging, grotesque, gruesome, hair raising, hideous, hobgoblins, horrible, howling, manifestation, moaning, monster, monstrous, moldy, mummy, nightmare, possessed, petrifying, screeching, shrieking, soul sucker, troll, undead, wailing, warlock, wormy, werewolf, witchdoctor

Thanks to JC and MP for this spooky list

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ANTIDOTE WORDS (antonyms)

achievement adventurousness apple-pie-order aplomb assurance audacity beauty boldness calm chivalry comfort composure confidence courage daring determination effortlessness elation enchantment endurance exhilaration exuberance fearlessness fortitude gallantry glory good-fortune good-looking good-spirits heart heroism jubilation merry-making peacefulness prowess self-assurance self-confidence spectacular strength success rapture triumph tranquility valour vision warm-fuzzies well-being zest

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“Jim is planning a huge JACK-O’-LANTERN for tomorrow night."

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