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• optic
  optic

  adjective

  of or relating to the eye or sight.
• Optic
  Optic

  noun

  a device attached to an inverted bottle for dispensing measured quantities of liquid, such as whisky, gin, etc

optic

American  

[op-tik] / ˈɒp tɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the eye or sight.

2. optical.

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noun

1. the eye.

2. a lens of an optical instrument.

Optic ¹ British  

/ ˈɒptɪk /

noun

1. a device attached to an inverted bottle for dispensing measured quantities of liquid, such as whisky, gin, etc

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optic ² British  

/ ˈɒptɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the eye or vision

2. a less common word for optical

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noun

1. an informal word for eye 1

optic Scientific  

/ ŏp′tĭk /

1. Relating to or involving the eye or vision.

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Other Word Forms

• interoptic
  adjective
• nonoptic
  adjective
• postoptic
  adjective
• preoptic
  adjective
• suboptic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of optic

1535–45; < Medieval Latin opticus < Greek optikós, equivalent to opt ( ós ) seen (verbid of ópsesthai to see) + -ikos -ic

Explanation

If you describe something as optic, it has something to do with eyes or vision. Your optic nerve, for example, sends information to your brain from your eyes. You'll most often find the adjective optic in anatomy or biology textbooks, describing the parts of an eye, or disorders involving the eye. Your optic disc is a tiny blind spot that all humans have on their eyeballs, and optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve. When it's a noun, optic is an old-fashioned, jokey way to say "eyeball." Optic comes from the Greek optikos, "of or having to do with sight."

Example Sentences

In 1997, Gary Winnick’s Global Crossing invested a few hundred million dollars to lay fiber optic cable under the Atlantic.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

The authors suggested that high dose Wegovy may increase the risk of reduced blood supply to the optic nerve through mechanisms involving blood pressure drops, fluid loss, and instability in the autonomic nervous system.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2026

Nonetheless, Dominion’s Virginia-focused service zone is a hot commodity—and is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers External link, thanks to the location of fiber optic hook-ups and relatively inexpensive land.

From Barron's • May 16, 2026

Ukraine now relies on acoustic sensors and nets to counter optic fiber drones, while more sophisticated solutions are still in testing, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Then she placed her hands, vertically, over her eyes and pressed the heels hard, as though to paralyze the optic nerve and drown all images into a voidlike black.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger