panopticon
[pan-op-ti-kon]
- a building, as a prison, hospital, library, or the like, so arranged that all parts of the interior are visible from a single point.
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Origin of panopticon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for panopticon
Contemporary Examples
The Panopticon is usually considered an abstract idea, but in fact I lived in one.
He spent 16 years of his mostly 18th century life designing the Panopticon, which was to be the ideal disciplinary institution.
The Panopticon By Jenni Fagan A teenage heroine is sent to a reformatory in this dystopian novel.
How have we gotten so comfortable with the panopticon state in little more than a decade?
Historical Examples
It had struck him that an application of his Panopticon would give the required panacea.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.Leslie Stephen
Had any other king been on the throne, Panopticon in both 'the prisoner branch and the pauper branch' would have been set at work.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.Leslie Stephen
The Panopticon, as defined by its inventor to Brissot, was a 'mill for grinding rogues honest, and idle men industrious.'
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.Leslie Stephen
Meanwhile Bentham, meditating profoundly upon the Panopticon, had at last found out that he had begun at the wrong end.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.Leslie Stephen
During this period Bentham was also occupied with the Panopticon, and some writings refer to it.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.Leslie Stephen
Word Origin and History for panopticon
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper