oculus
Americannoun
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an eye.
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Architecture. a circular opening, especially one at the apex of a dome.
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Archaeology. a design representing an eye, as on funerary pottery found in megalithic tombs of Europe.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of oculus
< New Latin, Latin: eye
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The American architect and artist created a contemplative moment with her two-part sculptural fountain: One stone lies flat as water bubbles up and over it, while an adjacent 11-foot-tall stone oculus emits a gentle mist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Wait, is that Usher dancing with Tiffany Haddish in front of the oculus?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Time, measured by sunlight moving across the oculus, is marked poignantly in the Guggenheim.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
At ground level, a circular port called an oculus will allow passersby to peer into a 325,000-gallon coral canyon teeming with thousands of fish and invertebrates.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
She confirmed that she had scaled the spire and entered through the oculus, but claimed she hadn’t come to steal.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
In Classical architecture, oculi were left open to the elements, and these skylights can open, too.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2016
It requires contractions of the orbicularis oculi, the sphincter muscle surrounding the eye socket, which, Duchenne wrote, “is only put in play by the sweet emotions of the soul.”
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 5, 2015
The motor response travels through the facial nerve and innervates the orbicularis oculi on the same side.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
While a performed or deliberate smile requires just the zygomaticus major, the muscle around the mouth, “real” smiles involve both the lips and the muscles ringing the eyes, the orbicularis oculi.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2013
It is almost impossible to tighten the orbicularis oculi, pars orbitalis on demand, and it is equally difficult to stop it from tightening when we smile at something genuinely pleasurable.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
