optical

American  

[op-ti-kuhl] / ˈɒp tɪ kəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or applying optics optics or the principles of optics.

2. constructed to assist sight or to correct defects in vision.

3. of or relating to sight or vision; visual.

4. of or relating to the eye.

5. of or relating to an optician or opticians or to their products, especially eyeglasses.

   an optical service.

6. dealing with or skilled in optics.

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noun

1. opticals. optical effects.

optical British  

/ ˈɒptɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, producing, or involving light

2. of or relating to the eye or to the sense of sight; optic

3. (esp of a lens) aiding vision or correcting a visual disorder

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optical Scientific  

/ ŏp′tĭ-kəl /

1. Relating to vision or the eyes.

2. Relating to optics.

3. Relating to or using visible light.

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Other Word Forms

• nonoptical adjective
• nonoptically adverb
• optically adverb
• suboptical adjective
• suboptically adverb

Etymology

Origin of optical

First recorded in 1560–70; optic + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Their approach uses high-dimensional encoding and is based on a well-known optical phenomenon called the Talbot effect.

From Science Daily

The system then uses optical imaging to monitor bacterial growth in each tube.

From Science Daily

This capability could lead to breakthroughs in molecular computing and highly efficient optical devices that outperform current technologies.

From Science Daily

Visser said the company also stands to benefit from its “strong position in the interconnect and optical layers that allow AI clusters to scale beyond a single rack.”

From Barron's

"The structure we have created here is so fine that it cannot be seen with optical microscopes at all," says Prof. Paul Mayrhofer from TU Wien's Institute of Materials Science and Technology.

From Science Daily