aperture

[ap-er-cher]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aperture ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an opening, as a hole, slit, crack, gap, etc.

Also called aperture stop. Optics. an opening, usually circular, that limits the quantity of light that can enter an optical instrument.

Origin of aperture

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin apertūra an opening, equivalent to apert(us) opened (past participle of aperīre; aper(i)- (see aperient) + -tus past participle suffix) + -ūra -ure

Related formsap·er·tur·al

[ap-er-choo r-uh l] /ˈæp ərˌtʃʊər əl/, adjectiveap·er·tured, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for aperture

vent, interstice, slit, chasm, slot, cut, eye, fissure, space, passage, slash, crack, breach, gash, opening, gap, break, outlet, puncture, cleft

Examples from the Web for aperture

Contemporary Examples of aperture

Its 8-megapixel camera, inclusive of true-tone and dual-LED f/2.2 aperture flashes, features optical image stabilization.
Why Every Home Needs a Drone This Holiday
Charlie Gilbert
December 8, 2014
“Administration officials favorite phrase these days is that, ‘you have to widen the aperture,’” says Bockenfeld.
Obama To Cut Middle East Democracy Programs
Jamie Dettmer
January 2, 2014
His book of essays, Photography After Frank , was recently published by Aperture.
Hai Bo and China's Photography Boom
Philip Gefter
January 20, 2011
His book of essays, Photography After Frank, was recently published by Aperture.
Pulp Fictions
Philip Gefter
September 10, 2009
But as this image shows, the nails actually went through an aperture in the wrists.
10 Reasons the Resurrection Really Happened
Jeffrey Hart
April 10, 2009

Historical Examples of aperture

Then I stops the aperture below, by putting the chest agin it.
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Then the aperture was closed with tiles or marble slabs, carefully cemented.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
The third was with the same instrument and aperture, but with a power of 460.
Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works
Edward Singleton Holden
Together, shoulder to shoulder, we gazed through the aperture.
The Floating Island of Madness
Jason Kirby
This Naka Machi had tossed into the aperture where the ape skin had been destroyed.
The Mind Master
Arthur J. Burks

British Dictionary definitions for aperture

aperture

noun

a hole, gap, crack, slit, or other opening

physics

a usually circular and often variable opening in an optical instrument or device that controls the quantity of radiation entering or leaving it
the diameter of such an openingSee also relative aperture

Word Origin for aperture

C15: from Late Latin apertūra opening, from Latin aperīre to open

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aperture

early 15c., from Latin apertura "an opening," from apertus, past participle of aperire "to open" (see overt).

aperture in Medicine

aperture

[ăp′ər-chər]

n.

An opening, such as a hole, gap, or slit.

A usually adjustable opening in an optical instrument, such as a microscope, a camera, or a telescope, that limits the amount of light passing through a lens or onto a mirror.

The diameter of such an opening.

The diameter of the objective of a telescope or microscope.

Related formsap′er•tur′al adj.