prism

CEFRC1

/ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A clear solid shape that bends light into different colors.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.

Examples

  • A spectrum is formed by a ray of light passing through a prism.

  • Light is resolved by a prism into seven colors.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).

  2. 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.

  3. A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis.

More examples

In context

  • A prism decomposes light.

  • Here, avvful [Isaac] Newton, the diſſolving clouds / Form, fronting on the ſun, thy ſhovvery priſm; / And to the ſage-inſtructed eye unfold / The various tvvine of light, by thee diſclos'd / From the vvhite mingling maze.

  • I had surveyed the landscape through the prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When white light passes through a glass blank, it separates into a rainbow of colors.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.).