aperture

American  

[ap-er-cher] / ˈæp ər tʃər /

noun

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

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

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aperture British  

/ ˈæpətʃə /

noun

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

2. physics

   1. a usually circular and often variable opening in an optical instrument or device that controls the quantity of radiation entering or leaving it

   2. the diameter of such an opening See also relative aperture

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Other Word Forms

• apertural adjective
• apertured adjective

Etymology

Origin of aperture

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

Example Sentences

Expanding the receiver aperture can improve results, but only up to a certain limit.

From Science Daily

She stressed the importance of modernizing CBS and to “widen the aperture” of stories and voices available on the network.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Synthetic aperture imaging -- the method that allowed the Event Horizon Telescope to image a black hole -- works by coherently combining measurements from multiple separated sensors to simulate a much larger imaging aperture."

From Science Daily

It’s a study in negative space, each individual form offering a grainy aperture that holds our interest due to the minor similarities to and differences from the ones surrounding it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Narrator Jodie Foster widens the film’s aperture a bit early on, referring to the period “between Watergate and the Bicentennial” as the documentary’s focus.

From The Wall Street Journal