spec·trum 
(spĕktrəm)
(spĕktrəm)n. pl. spec·tra (-trə) or spec·trums
Idiom: 1. Physics
a. The entire range over which some measurable property of a physical system or phenomenon can vary, such as the frequency of sound, the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, or the mass of specific kinds of particles.
b. A specific portion of such a range: the infrared spectrum.
c. A characteristic distribution of phenomena manifested over such a range: the emission spectrum for sodium vapor.
d. A graphic representation of such a distribution; a spectrogram.
e. A band of colors produced when the wavelengths making up white light are separated, as when light passes through a prism or strikes drops of water.
2. A range of radio frequencies assigned by a regulatory agency for use by a given group or organization.
3.
a. A range of values of a quantity or set of related quantities: the income spectrum.
b. A sequence or range of related qualities, ideas, activities, entities, or phenomena: the whole spectrum of 20th-century thought; the spectrum of genes involved in the immune response.
on the spectrum
Having a form of autism spectrum disorder: students who are on the spectrum.
[Latin, appearance, from specere, to look at; see spek- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
- micrographic
- microgravity
- microgreens
- microhabitat
- microinject
- microinjection
- microinstruction
- microlending
- microlith
- microlithic
- microloan
- micromachine
- micromanage
- micromanipulation
- micromanipulative
- micromanipulator
- micromere
- micrometeorite
- micrometeoroid
- micrometeorological
- micrometeorologist
- micrometeorology
- micrometer
- micrometer
- micrometric