English Explanatory Dictionary

prism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.
  2. An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).
  3. A cutting (“open passage at a level lower than the surrounding terrain, dug for a canal, railway, or road to go through”) or an embankment shaped like a prism (sense 1) or a number of prisms, such that its volume can be easily calculated.
  4. A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis.
  5. A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
  6. A spectrum produced by light being refracted through a prism.
  7. A retroreflector (“device which reflects light back to its source with minimal scattering”) which is usually attached to a surveying pole as a target for a total station which emits a light beam at the device and calculates how long it takes to be reflected back in order to measure distance.
  8. A perspective that colours one's perception.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/ [ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩] /ˈpɹɪzəm/ En-us-prism.ogg

Word forms

prism prisms

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πρῑ́ω (prī́ō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă)bor. Late Latin prismalbor. English prism Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (“(geometry) prism”), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prĭ́zō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology unknown) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, etc.).

Derived words

antiprism duoprism foreprism gigantoprism Glan–Foucault prism Glan–Thompson prism gonioprism grism hyperprism microprismatic muscle-prism muscle prism nanoprism Nomarski prism polyprismane prismal prismane prismate prismated prismatic prismatically prismatoid prismatoidal prismed prismenchyma prism glass prismic prismless prismlike prismodic prismoid prismoidal prism train prismy prisoptometer regular muscle-prism Sénarmont prism slab-off prism

Translations

Albanian: prizëm Arabic: مَنْشُور Arabic: مَوْشُور Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܢܣܝܼܪܵܐ Armenian: պրիզմա Asturian: prisma Azerbaijani: prizma Bashkir: при́зма Basque: prisma Basque: prisma optico Belarusian: пры́зма Bengali: প্রিজম Bulgarian: при́зма Burmese: ပရစ်ဇမ် Catalan: prisma Chinese Mandarin: 稜柱 /棱柱 Chinese Mandarin: 稜鏡 /棱镜 Chuvash: при́зма Czech: hranol Danish: prisme Dutch: prisma Esperanto: prismo Estonian: prisma Farefare: prisma Farefare: dɔkãwo Farefare: dɔpẽrga Finnish: prisma Finnish: särmiö French: prisme North Frisian: prisma Galician: prisma Georgian: პრიზმა German: Prisma Greek: πρίσμα Ancient Greek: πρίσμα Hebrew: מִנְסָרָה Hindi: प्रिज़्म Hungarian: hasáb Hungarian: prizma Ido: prismato Indonesian: prisma Irish: priosma Italian: prisma Japanese: プリズム Japanese: 角柱 Japanese: 三稜鏡 Kazakh: призма Khmer: ព្រីស Korean: 프리즘 Korean: 각기둥
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