prism

American  

[priz-uhm] / ˈprɪz əm /

noun

1. Optics. a transparent solid body, often having triangular bases, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light.

2. Geometry. a solid having bases or ends that are parallel, congruent polygons and sides that are parallelograms.

3. Crystallography. a form having faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axes.

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prism British  

/ ˈprɪzəm /

noun

1. 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

2. a form of crystal with faces parallel to the vertical axis

3. maths a polyhedron having parallel, polygonal, and congruent bases and sides that are parallelograms

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prism Scientific  

/ prĭz′əm /

1. A geometric solid whose bases are congruent polygons lying in parallel planes and whose sides are parallelograms.

2. A solid of this type, often made of glass with triangular ends, used to disperse light and break it up into a spectrum.

3. A crystal form having 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axis.

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prism Cultural  

1. 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.

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Discover More

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.

Etymology

Origin of prism

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

Example Sentences

The L.A.-based Iraqi painter Ali Eyal, who left his home country in 2017, experienced the fires through the prism of his tumultuous youth.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

Much of EU policymaking is now being viewed through the prism of sovereignty.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

Language is an ideal prism through which a culture expresses its underlying mores.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

Viewed against such a prism, this foreshadows a period of sloppy price action or correction for the stock market.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

And now there would be no further instructions, no way for another word to pass from her father’s lips into the bright prism of the still-living world.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee