街灯

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 街灯 combines 街, street, with 灯, light or lamp, and is read がいとう.
• Basic usage: It denotes a streetlight illuminating an outdoor road or bridge, as in 街灯が点灯する and 街灯の電球.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Fixture and component
  • 街灯 is the whole streetlight fixture, while 街灯の電球 refers to the bulb inside it.
• Difference from 電灯
  • 電灯 can broadly denote an electric light, whereas 街灯 has the specific location and function of street lighting.