Nicol prism

[ nik-uhl ]

/ ˈnɪk əl /

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noun Optics.

one of a pair of prisms used to produce and analyze plane-polarized light in a polarizing microscope.

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Also called Nicol .

Compare polarizer (def. 1).

Origin of Nicol prism

First recorded in 1870–75; named after William Nicol (1768–1851), British physicist, its inventor

Words nearby Nicol prism

Nicolay, Nicole, Nicolet, Nicolette, Nicolle, Nicol prism, Nicolson, Nicomedia, Nicorette, Nicosia, Nicostratus

How to use Nicol prism in a sentence

I recognize my inability to truly understand these events in the same context or view these events through exactly the same prism.
Dr. Howard Fuller's Injustice Education|Campbell Brown|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You had the PRISM program, and you also have National Security letters.
Laura Poitras on Snowden's Unrevealed Secrets|Marlow Stern|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He pops from the screen as a charismatic, occasionally messianic “human prism,” as Moss calls him.
The Pastor Who Scandalized His Town|Lloyd Grove|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Snowden himself exposed a program known as PRISM that provided these so-called back doors to the NSA in the United States.
Sorry, Snowden: Putin Lied to You About His Surveillance State—And Made You a Pawn of It|Eli Lake|April 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Mistakes happen, nuance is often lost, and everything is seen through a prism of who is winning and who is losing.
When Campaign Spin Becomes Fact|Stuart Stevens|March 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At eighteen does not love hold a prism between the world and the eyes of a young girl?
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket|Honore de Balzac
His name and his bright past, seen through the prism of whispered gossip, had gained him the nickname of The Admiral.
Tales and Fantasies|Robert Louis Stevenson
It was an irregular trapezium, a mass struck off from the colossal granitic prism of the Great Douvre.
Toilers of the Sea|Victor Hugo
A theme taken from a medival author; an antique figure, that of Virgil, but seen through the prism of modern poetry.
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 1 (of 4)|Richard Muther
The catalogue was compiled by Mr. George Nicol, bookseller to the King.
English Book Collectors|William Younger Fletcher

British Dictionary definitions for Nicol prism

Nicol prism

/ (ˈnɪkəl) /

noun

a device composed of two prisms of Iceland spar or calcite cut at specified angles and cemented together with Canada balsam. It is used for producing plane-polarized light

Word Origin for Nicol prism

C19: named after William Nicol (?1768–1851), Scottish physicist, its inventor

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