phantasmagoria Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a constantly changing medley of real or imagined images (as in a dream)

WordNet

Phan*tas`ma*go"ri*a noun
Etymology
NL., from Gr. a phantasm + an assembly, fr. to gather: cf. F. phantasmagorie.
Definitions
  1. An optical effect produced by a magic lantern. The figures are painted in transparent colors, and all the rest of the glass is opaque black. The screen is between the spectators and the instrument, and the figures are often made to appear as in motion, or to merge into one another.
  2. The apparatus by which such an effect is produced.
  3. Fig.: A medley of figures; illusive images. "This mental phantasmagoria." Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1913