prism

English
WOTD – 1 March 2025

Etymology
An illustration of a pentagonal prism (sense 1), that is, one with pentagons on its ends.
Aquamarine in the form of a prism (sense 1.3; right) surrounded by shorter prisms of quartz.
An illustration of a triangular prism (sense 1.4) standing on its end refracting white light into a spectrum.
A prism (sense 2) used in surveying for measuring distances.

Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (“(geometry) prism”), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísma, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prízō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology unknown) + -μᾰ (-ma, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, etc.).[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/, [ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪzəm/
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzəm

Noun

prism (plural prisms)

  1. (geometry) A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.
    1. An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).
    2. (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.
    3. (crystallography) A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis.
    4. (optics) A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
      • 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “[The First Book of Opticks. Part I.] Prop[osition] I. Theor[y] I. Lights which Differ in Colour, Differ also in Degrees of Refrangibility.”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, pages 13 and 17:
        [page 13] One of theſe Parts [of a piece of black paper] I painted vvith a red Colour and the other vvith a blevv. […] This Paper I vievved through a Priſm of ſolid Glaſs, vvhoſe tvvo Sides through vvhich the Light paſſed to the Eye vvere plane and vvell poliſhed, and contained an Angle of about Sixty Degrees: vvhich Angle I call the refracting Angle of the Priſm. […] [page 17] Theſe Experiments may ſuffice for the Colours of Natural Bodies. For in the Colours made by the Refraction of Priſms this Propoſition vvill appear by the Experiments vvhich are novv to follovv in the next Propoſition.
      • a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 10, lines 207–211:
        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.
      1. (archaic) A spectrum produced by light being refracted through a prism.
  2. (by extension, surveying) A retroreflector (“device which reflects light back to its source with minimum 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.
  3. (figurative) A perspective that colours one's perception.
    • 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Stratford-on-Avon”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number VII, New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 87:
      I had surveyed the landscape through the prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow.
    • 2023 June 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 1 – 0 Inter Milan”, in BBC Sport‎, archived from the original on 2024-04-10:
      It is a simple fact that many outside the Abu Dhabi-owned club will always view their triumph through the prism of the charges of 115 financial breaches brought against them by the Premier League, charges they fiercely deny.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Japanese: プリズム (purizumu)
  • → Korean: 프리즘 (peurijeum)
  • → Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m)

Translations
spectrum produced by light being refracted through a prism — see spectrum

References
  1. “prism, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “prism, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams
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