spectral

[spek-truhl]

adjective

1. of or relating to a specter; ghostly; phantom.

2. resembling or suggesting a specter.

3. of, relating to, or produced by a spectrum or spectra.

4. resembling or suggesting a spectrum or spectra.

spectral

/ spɛkˈtrælɪtɪ, ˈspɛktrəl /

adjective

1. of or like a spectre

2. of or relating to a spectrum

   spectral colours

3. physics (of a physical quantity) relating to a single wavelength of radiation

   spectral luminous efficiency

Other Word Forms

• spectrality noun
• spectralness noun
• spectrally adverb
• nonspectral adjective
• nonspectrally adverb
• nonspectrality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of spectral¹

First recorded in 1710–20; from Latin spectr(um) ( specter ) + -al ¹

Example Sentences

There’s also a ghost in the movie, I think — at least, there’s a heavy hinge that shouldn’t be able to open without a spectral nudge.

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What’s left is a spectral scene, ghosted by the limitations of old black-and-white photographic technology and further heightened by the uneven glow generated by the camera’s flashbulb.

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Future observations by the James Webb Space Telescope should also be able to tell us what the planet is made up of, using something called spectral imaging.

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She says 2T2 is infused with emotion; bereavement and illness informing tracks such as Stound, with its beats and spectral chanting.

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Because HLS MS 172 is in places badly faded, the academics worked not from the original but from pictures obtained using ultraviolet light and spectral imaging.

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Related Words

• eerie 
• shadowy