gaslight

English

A gaslight being lit by a lamplighter in Stockholm, 1953

Alternative forms

• gas lamp (US)

Etymology

gas +‎ light. The verb sense derives from the 1938 stage play Gas Light, in which a husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡæslaɪt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

gaslight (countable and uncountable, plural gaslights)

1. (British) The light produced by burning piped illuminating gas.
2. (British) A lamp which operates by burning gas.

Hypernyms

• light

Translations

light produced by burning gas

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 煤氣燈光／煤气灯光, 煤气灯光 (méiqì dēngguāng)

• Finnish: kaasuvalo (fi)
• Georgian: გაზის განათებაა (gazis ganatebaa)
• German: Gaslicht n
• Greek: αεριόφως (el) n (aeriófos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: gasljós n
• Irish: solas gáis m
• Polish: oświetlenie gazowe
• Portuguese: luz/iluminação a gás f
• Russian: га́зовое освеще́ние n (gázovoje osveščénije)

lamp that burns gas

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 煤氣燈／煤气灯 (zh) (méiqìdēng), 煤气灯 (zh) (méiqìdēng)

• Finnish: kaasulamppu
• French: bec de gaz (fr) m
• Georgian: გაზის ნათურა (gazis natura)
• German: Gaslampe (de) f
• Greek: λάμπα αερίου f (lámpa aeríou)
• Hungarian: gázlámpa (hu)
• Icelandic: gaslampi m
• Irish: gáslampa m, lampa gáis m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ガス灯 (gasu-tō)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gasslampe m or f

  Nynorsk: gasslampe m or f

• Polish: lampa gazowa
• Portuguese: lâmpada a gás f
• Russian: га́зовая ла́мпа f (gázovaja lámpa)
• Spanish: lampara a gas f
• Tagalog: lasigi, gasera

Verb

gaslight (third-person singular simple present gaslights, present participle gaslighting, simple past and past participle gaslighted or gaslit)

1. To manipulate someone psychologically such that they question their own sanity, particularly by leading them to doubt their own experiences or perceptions of reality.
   • 2013, Victoria Summit, Stop Dancing in the Gaslight: Recognizing Domestic Abuse is Half the Battle, Scarlett Publishing, page 14,

     In the Disney movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, Oz's gaslighting schemes showcase his extreme case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Translations

to manipulate someone psychologically such that they question their own sanity

• Georgian: გაგიჟებამდე მანიპულირება (gagižebamde maniṗulireba)
• German: mit Psychotricks langsam irre machen, mit Psychotricks allmählich in den Wahnsinn treiben
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• gaslit
• gas mantle

References

• gas lighting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• gaslighting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “gaslight”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.