prism

== English == === Etymology === 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.). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/, [ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩] (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪzəm/ Rhymes: -ɪzəm === Noun === prism (plural prisms) (geometry) A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides. An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1). (construction) 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. (crystallography) A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis. (optics) A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light. (archaic) A spectrum produced by light being refracted through a prism. (by extension, surveying) 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. (figurative) A perspective that colours one's perception. ==== Hypernyms ==== (geometry): prismatoid ==== Hyponyms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Japanese: プリズム (purizumu) → Korean: 프리즘 (peurijeum) → Malay: prisma → Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m) ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === prism (geology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia prism (geometry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia prism (optics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia prism (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === prims