prism

[priz-uh m]

See more synonyms for prism on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

1560–70; < Late Latin prīsma < Greek prîsma literally, something sawed, akin to prī́zein to saw, prīstēs sawyer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for prism

cylinder, gem, stone, figure, spectrum

Examples from the Web for prism

Contemporary Examples of prism

You had the PRISM program, and you also have National Security letters.
Laura Poitras on Snowden's Unrevealed Secrets
Marlow Stern
December 1, 2014
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 It
Eli 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.
When Campaign Spin Becomes Fact
Stuart Stevens
March 21, 2014
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 Criticism
January 26, 2014
And earlier, Facebook, Google, and Twitter all criticized the NSA over its PRISM program.
The Unseen Threat to the Fourth Amendment Is the Fourth Amendment Itself
Kevin Bleyer
January 4, 2014

Historical Examples of prism

Simba continued to stare, and Kingozi had lifted his prism glasses.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
What colors of the prism are shown most in sunset or sunrise?
Classic Myths
Mary Catherine Judd
Notice a rainbow, when possible, and form one with a prism in the schoolroom.
Classic Myths
Mary Catherine Judd
Hold a prism in the sunlight by the window and make a "rainbow" on the wall.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne
Now look for a pencil or a piece of chalk through the prism, in the same way.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne

British Dictionary definitions for prism

prism

noun

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

C16: from Medieval Latin prisma, from Greek: something shaped by sawing, from prizein to saw

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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 in Medicine

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.

Related formspris•mat′ic (-măt′ĭk) adj.

prism in Science

prism

[prĭz′əm]

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 in Culture

prism

[(priz-uhm)]

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.

Note

A prism of glass (or a similar transparent material) can be used to bend different wavelengths of light by different amounts through refraction. This bending separates a beam of white light into a spectrum of colored light.