Panopticon

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Panopticon \Pa*nop"ti*con\, n. [NL. See {Pan-}, and {Optic}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A prison so contructed that the inspector can see each of
        the prisoners at all times, without being seen.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. A room for the exhibition of novelties.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  panopticon
       n 1: an area where everything is visible
       2: a circular prison with cells distributed around a central
          surveillance station; proposed by Jeremy Bentham in 1791