prism
- Optics. a transparent solid body, often having triangular bases, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light.
- Geometry. a solid having bases or ends that are parallel, congruent polygons and sides that are parallelograms.
- Crystallography. a form having faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axes.
Origin of prism
Examples from the Web for prism
Contemporary Examples of prism
You had the PRISM program, and you also have National Security letters.
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 ItEli Lake
April 18, 2014
Mistakes happen, nuance is often lost, and everything is seen through a prism of who is winning and who is losing.
And what has become known as the PRISM program is not aimed at collecting the communications of Americans.
Bush Era Republicans Letter Denouncing RNC's NSA CriticismJanuary 26, 2014
And earlier, Facebook, Google, and Twitter all criticized the NSA over its PRISM program.
Historical Examples of prism
Simba continued to stare, and Kingozi had lifted his prism glasses.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
What colors of the prism are shown most in sunset or sunrise?
Classic MythsMary Catherine Judd
Notice a rainbow, when possible, and form one with a prism in the schoolroom.
Classic MythsMary Catherine Judd
Hold a prism in the sunlight by the window and make a "rainbow" on the wall.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
Now look for a pencil or a piece of chalk through the prism, in the same way.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
prism
- a transparent polygonal solid, often having triangular ends and rectangular sides, for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting and deviating light. They are used in spectroscopes, binoculars, periscopes, etc
- a form of crystal with faces parallel to the vertical axis
- maths a polyhedron having parallel, polygonal, and congruent bases and sides that are parallelograms
Word Origin for prism
Word Origin and History for prism
1560s, a type of solid figure, from Late Latin prisma, from Greek prisma (Euclid), literally "something sawed," from prizein "to saw" (see prion). Meaning in optics is first attested 1610s.
prism
(prĭz′əm)- A solid figure whose bases or ends have the same size and shape and are parallel to one another, and each of whose sides is a parallelogram.
- A transparent body of this form, often of glass and usually with triangular ends, used for separating white light passed through it into a spectrum or for reflecting beams of light.
- Such a body used in testing or correcting imbalance of the extrinsic ocular muscles.
prism
- A geometric solid whose bases are congruent polygons lying in parallel planes and whose sides are parallelograms.
- A solid of this type, often made of glass with triangular ends, used to disperse light and break it up into a spectrum.
- A crystal form having 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axis.
prism
A solid figure in geometry with bases or ends of the same size and shape and sides that have parallel edges. Also, an object that has this shape.