prism

[ priz-uhm ]

/ ˈprɪz əm /

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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.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of prism

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

Words nearby prism

Priscian, Priscilla, prise, prisere, prisiadka, prism, prismatic, prismatic compass, prismatic layer, prismatic telescope, prismatoid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prism in a sentence

That one went quickly out to the left, where Smith caught it and made a breathtaking passage around three Ohio State defenders in the last little prism of space available on the left side of the field, stopping only 22 yards later.
The Alabama football dynasty collects another title with a 52-24 rout of Ohio State|Chuck Culpepper, Des Bieler|January 12, 2021|Washington Post
The scientists could watch through a tiny prism as neurons fired and lit up.
A taste map in the brain is a scattering of tiny flavor islands|Bethany Brookshire|January 5, 2021|Science News For Students
The favored approach to understanding colonial rule, particularly in Africa, is through the prism of political governance—how the colonial authority was imposed through local or native authorities.
How the colonial enterprise hard-wired violence into Nigeria’s governance|Benjamin Maiangwa|October 21, 2020|Quartz
Try placing some plastic wrap or a prism over the lens to test out different effects in refracting the light.
11 Great Microadventures You Can Do Now|The Editors|October 1, 2020|Outside Online

The viewfinder has moved over to the top left corner of the body—the A7 line puts it at the top where the prism would be on a DSLR.
Sony built a tiny mirrorless camera with a full-frame sensor inside|Stan Horaczek|September 16, 2020|Popular-Science
I recognize my inability to truly understand these events in the same context or view these events through exactly the same prism.
Dr. Howard Fuller's Injustice Education|Campbell Brown|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You had the PRISM program, and you also have National Security letters.
Laura Poitras on Snowden's Unrevealed Secrets|Marlow Stern|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He pops from the screen as a charismatic, occasionally messianic “human prism,” as Moss calls him.
The Pastor Who Scandalized His Town|Lloyd Grove|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
At eighteen does not love hold a prism between the world and the eyes of a young girl?
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket|Honore de Balzac
His name and his bright past, seen through the prism of whispered gossip, had gained him the nickname of The Admiral.
Tales and Fantasies|Robert Louis Stevenson
It was an irregular trapezium, a mass struck off from the colossal granitic prism of the Great Douvre.
Toilers of the Sea|Victor Hugo
A theme taken from a medival author; an antique figure, that of Virgil, but seen through the prism of modern poetry.
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 1 (of 4)|Richard Muther
Analysis by the prism alone has quite doubled the knowledge that was previously available.
The Hills and the Vale|Richard Jefferies

British Dictionary definitions for prism

prism

/ (ˈprɪzəm) /

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

Scientific definitions for prism

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.

Cultural definitions for prism

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.

notes for prism

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.

prism

Origin of prism

Words nearby prism

Words related to prism

How to use prism in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for prism

Word Origin for prism

Scientific definitions for prism

Cultural definitions for prism

notes for prism