panopticon
A kind of projector in the 18th and 19th centuries.
historical
A type of prison where all the cells are visible from the center, particularly if it is not possible for those in a cell to know if they are being watched.
He was alive to every creak and dunt, the thinness of the walls, as if the tenement block was a kind of aural panopticon that funnelled every sound to the other residents, let everyone eavesdrop on their business.
A place in which people are subject to constant surveillance at totalitarian command.
figuratively
Perhaps the construction of such a genetic panopticon is wise. But I doubt that the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection.
A room for the exhibition of novelties.
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ὀπτικός (optikós, “visible”). Coined by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1787.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry panopticon (CC BY-SA 4.0).