電灯

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 電灯, read でんとう, and it combines 電, meaning electricity, with 灯, meaning light or lamp.
• Basic usage: 電灯 is an electric light or lamp that provides illumination.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A light switched on and a lamp serving as the source of illumination
  • Both examples use the form 電灯. One is the entrance light turned on when it grows dark; the other is an old lamp whose soft glow illuminates a desk.
• Darkness at an entrance and a soft glow over a desk
  • 暗くなったので玄関の電灯をつけた。 — It grew dark, so I turned on the entrance light.
  • 古い電灯の柔らかな光が机を照らしていた。 — The soft glow of an old lamp illuminated the desk.