Advertisement
Advertisement
View synonyms for
prism
[ priz-uhm ]
noun
- Optics. a transparent solid body, often having triangular bases, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light.
- Geometry. a solid having bases or ends that are parallel, congruent polygons and sides that are parallelograms.
- Crystallography. a form having faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axes.
prism
/ ˈɪə /
noun
- a transparent polygonal solid, often having triangular ends and rectangular sides, for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting and deviating light. They are used in spectroscopes, binoculars, periscopes, etc
- a form of crystal with faces parallel to the vertical axis
- maths a polyhedron having parallel, polygonal, and congruent bases and sides that are parallelograms
prism
/ ĭ′ə /
- A geometric solid whose bases are congruent polygons lying in parallel planes and whose sides are parallelograms.
- A solid of this type, often made of glass with triangular ends, used to disperse light and break it up into a spectrum.
- A crystal form having 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axis.
prism
- A solid figure in geometry with bases or ends of the same size and shape and sides that have parallel edges. Also, an object that has this shape.
Discover More
Notes
A prism of glass (or a similar transparent material) can be used to bend different wavelengths of light by different amounts through refraction . This bending separates a beam of white light into a spectrum of colored light.
Discover More
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of prism1
1560–70; < Late Latin ī < Greek î literally, something sawed, akin to ī́ to saw, īŧ sawyer
Discover More
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of prism1
C16: from Medieval Latin prisma, from Greek: something shaped by sawing, from prizein to saw
Discover More
Example Sentences
Examples have not been reviewed.
But the governor said his politics has never fit into an “ideological prism.”
From
Light from the galaxy passes through a prism or reflects off a diffraction grating in a telescope, which captures the intensity of light from blue to red.
From
You can just express it through your own prism.
From
She experienced Trump last time he was in office and concluded he views the world through the prism of winners and losers.
From
The allure of her newfound status and authority becomes a troublesome prism through which to view an unjust world.
From
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse