prismn.

Brit.

/ˈprɪz(ə)m/, U.S.

/ˈprɪzəm/

Forms: 1500s–1600s prisme, 1600s– prism, 1700s prysm.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin prisma.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin prisma solid geometrical figure (5th cent.) < ancient Greek πρῖσμα sawdust, in Hellenistic Greek also (in geometry) prism (Euclid) < πρίζειν to saw, rare parallel form to πρίειν (see prion n.¹) + -μα (see -oma comb. form). Compare French prisme (1609 in geometry; 1637 in optics), Italian prisma (a1572 in geometry; a1640 in optics in Galileo).With sense 5 compare earlier prismatoid adj., prismatoidal adj.

I. The figure, and related senses.

1. Geometry. A solid figure with two end faces that are similar, equal, and parallel rectilinear figures, and whose sides are parallelograms or rectangles.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [noun] > prism

prism1570

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > three-dimensional > prism

prism1570

prismoid1704

wedge1723

1570 H. Billingsley tr. Comte de Candale in tr. Euclid Elements Geom. xi. f. 355 Euery parallelipipedon may be resolued into two like, and equal Prismes [L. Prismata].

a1678 J. Newton Cosmographia (1679) v. 20 A Prism is either a Pentahedron, a Hexahedron, or a Polyhedron.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Triangular Prism, a kind of Prism whose two opposite Bases are Triangles alike, parallel and equal.

1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 331 A Prism takes particular names according to the figure of its base or ends, whether triangular, square, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, &c.

1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 24/2 The wedge being merely the frustum of a triangular prism, we have at once [etc.].

1945 E. T. Bell Devel. Math. (ed. 2) ii. 40 In their mensuration of solids the Babylonians..gave correct solutions of numerical problems involving..right prisms with trapezoidal bases.

2001 Managem. Sci. 47 665/2 A cylinder is likely to be the best solution; however, we might also look at a rectangular prism as an alternative geometry.

a. Optics. A transparent object in the form of a geometrical prism; esp. a right prism whose ends are identical acute-angled triangles, used for refracting light that passes through the sides.Foucault, Nicol, Wollaston prism: see the first element. See also Porro prism n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments to refract, etc., light > [noun] > prism

prism1612

Nicol prism1838

Foucault prism1882

biprism1884

Fresnel biprism1890

Porro prism1909

pentaprism1937

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > prism

prism1612

Nicol1838

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > instrument

prism1612

spectrometer1874

spectrograph1884

1612 H. Peacham Gentlemans Exercise iii. 150 A most pleasant and delightfull experiment..in a three square cristal prisme, wherin you shal perceiue the blew to be outmost next to that the red.

1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked xlvii. §480 Prismes, (called fools paradises) which transform the colours of things into a thousand shapes.

1728 J. Thomson Spring 13 Here, mighty Newton, the dissolving Clouds Are, as they scatter round, thy numerous Prism.

a1743 Ld. Hervey Monimia to Philocles in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (1763) IV. 83 So in the prism to the deluded eye Each pictur'd trifle takes a rainbow dye.

1847 A. De Morgan Formal Logic ii. 35 Wollaston and Fraunhofer have discovered black lines which always exist in the spectrum of solar colours given by a glass prism, in the same relative places.

1894 Astron. & Astro-physics 13 46 Gratings..for placing in front of the object-glass of a telescope, to be used in the same way as an object-glass prism.

1931 H. S. Williams Bk. Marvels 20 Rays of light are split by the prism of the spectroscope into the primary colors.

1988 Jrnl. Navigation 41 330 The compass..was a simple, robust instrument with a large steering prism.

b. A spectrum as produced by refraction through a prism. In plural: prismatic colours. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > [noun] > spectrum > seven colours of

prism1669

prismatic colour1728

1669 J. Childrey Let. 9 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1968) V. 384 This morning I found ye groat deepely tincted with ye Prisme colours, just as if it had lien some time in ye fire.

1704 J. Elsum Art of Painting after Ital. Manner (new ed.) xlii. 126 In one respect 'tis like White, it [sc. Black] is not to be seen or found in the Prism.

c1840 A. Opie in C. L. Brightwell Memorials Life A. Opie (1854) xxii. 334 Oh! the exquisite beauty of the prisms on my ceiling just now.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Day-dream in Poems (new ed.) II. 151 The beams, that thro' the Oriel shine, Make prisms in every carven glass, And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.

1866 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 358 A glass drop chandelier, quaint and old-fashioned, reflected it [sc. the light] in bright prisms.

1989 A. Beattie Picturing Will i. iii. 19 In the late afternoon, the sun moving toward the west struck the globe of the ceiling light, sending prisms of color against the walls.

c. figurative.

ΚΠ

1791 J. Fennell Lindor & Clara iv. viii. 83 The heart is its own self a prism, refracting on the mind each fear, each doubt, and every dread anxiety concentrated in love.

1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. vii. 87 I had surveyed the landscape through the prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow.

1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. i. 35 Thought and its expression are but the two sides of the same prism.

1941 L. MacNeice Plant & Phantom 21 And if the world were black or white entirely And all the charts were plain Instead of a mad weir of tigerish waters, A prism of delight and pain.

1964 C. Howell tr. J. Gélineau Voices & Instruments Christian Worship i. 20 By means of melos he lets the words take on the colors of the prism of sentiments which illuminates them.

2005 Independent 28 Apr. 36/3 All these important questions are viewed through the prism of a dysfunctional family living off Hackney's so-called ‘Murder Mile.’

3. Any object in the form of a geometrical prism.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [noun] > prism > object having form of

prism1660

prismoid1704

1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 81 In little Columnes, or Prismes an inch long or more.

1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 191 An iron grate, the bars of which are quadrangular prysms of half an inch square.

1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. II. xiii. 43 The internal cavity is found to be lined with beautiful tetrahedral prisms.

1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xvii. 232 A granitic prism, terminated by a flat surface covered with a tuft of trees, rises to the height of 213 feet.

1862 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies I. v. 329 Hexagonal or octagonal prisms made in extremely fine and thin Terra Cotta.

1957 R. H. Thomson Naturally Occurring Quinones iii. 128 The substance responsible..was isolated as pale red prisms, showing a blue fluorescence in solution.

2001 Fortean Times Jan. 12/3 A spectacular cave of gypsum prisms was discovered in a disused Spanish silver mine.

4. Civil Engineering. A cutting or embankment regarded as a prism or succession of prisms whose cubic content can be readily calculated (cf. prismoidal formula n. at prismoidal adj. Compounds).

ΚΠ

1851 Pay as You Go (Evening Post Extra) 4 Such things as building a new lock or enlarging the prism of a canal.

1857 G. L. Vose Handbk. Railroad Constr. 100 The road-bed being nineteen feet wide, and slopes one and a half to one, the formula for the amount of a prism one hundred feet long is [etc.].

1880 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 440 This reduction,..notwithstanding allowance in excavation, is made for an enlarged prism of canal.

1906 Rep. Board Consulting Engineers Panama Canal 49 There is much rock to be removed from the Canal prism at Obispo.

1961 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 51 54/1 The..theory that an increase in a canal's prism could make up for a great lockage.

1973 Bull. Assoc. Preservation Technol. 5 69 The design of the canal prism was about 50 to 60 feet wide at water level.

5. Crystallography. An open form consisting of three or more planes that meet in edges parallel to the vertical axis of the crystal.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > specific crystal forms > [noun]

tripyramid1828

trisoctahedron1837

fluoroid1850

sphenoid1855

discalenohedron1872

prism1878

tetrakis-hexahedron1878

galenoid1882

macroprism1883

semi-form1895

tetartohedron1895

tetrakisdodecahedron1895

trichite1900

1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 51 A group of tautozonal faces is in some cases called a prism.

1895 N. Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. v. §108 The prismatic forms..are constituted each of four planes, the first form being technically termed a prism.

1990 C. Pellant Rocks, Minerals & Fossils 50/1 Crystal forms often enclose space, for example the cube, but other forms like pinacoids (two parallel faces) and prisms (a number of faces meeting at their parallel edges) are open forms.

†II. Other senses.

6. Sawdust. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > dust > sawdust

prism1656

sawdust1672

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Prism,..the powder or dust of those things that are cut with a Saw.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Prisme,..Saw-dust.

Compounds

C1.

prism-form n., adv., and adj.

ΚΠ

1895 N. Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. vii. §328 One of these varieties [of prismatids] includes the vertical or ortho-prism..usually distinguished as the prism-form.

1896 Missouri Bot. Garden 7th Ann. Rep. 109 In the stipe and costa the cells are much elongated, prism-form with either square or wedge-shape ends, arranged in chains.

1992 Science 7 Feb. 708/1 The Muskox intrusion is a prism-form layered mafic intrusion exposed along the Arctic Circle in Northwest Territories, Canada.

prism glass n.

ΚΠ

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 375/1 Prismes Glasses..represent things of diverse colours, as red, green, yellow, like a Rain-Bow.]

1899 Perry (Iowa) Advertiser 13 Oct. Our Store is now one of the largest, best arranged and..best lighted clothing room in the state. We use the prism glass.

1922 L. Bell Telescope vii. 152 With the exception of these specialized astronomical field glasses the most useful and generally available hand instrument is the prism glass now in very general use.

1989 RIBA Jrnl. Aug. 33/2 The architects opted for ‘prism glass’: an acrylic prism, mirrored on one facet, sandwiched in double-glazed units.

prism-hued adj.

ΚΠ

1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 44 Joyous feelings, prism-hued.

1956 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 13 July E18/1 (advt.) Prism-hued Costume jewelry... Like a prism, it takes on something of every colour you wear it with.

2002 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 18 Aug. (Books & Ideas section) d8 She (Irene) held her happiness like a fragile, prism-hued soap bubble, shielding it from every lethal breeze.

prism-shaped adj.

ΚΠ

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. xxii. 224 The Pericarpium is..prismatic, Prism-shaped.

1869 R. F. Burton Explor. Highlands Brazil I. xxix. 286 The prism-shaped hill.

1920 Hopewell (New Jersey) Herald 7 Jan. The poles..are sawed into pieces about an inch long and split into prism-shaped blanks.

1994 R. Preston Hot Zone 133 It [sc. a diamond knife] has a diamond edge—a large, flawless prism-shaped diamond, a gem-quality stone.

C2.

† prism battery n. Obsolete rare a form of Leclanché battery in which the anode is a carbon plate in contact with two prisms formed from compressed manganese dioxide and carbon powder.

ΚΠ

a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 723/1 Prism Battery, a form of Leclanché battery in which the usual porous cup is dispensed with, and a pair of compressed prisms containing all the materials formerly used in the porous cup are substituted for it.

prism binocular n. (in singular and plural) binoculars containing two pairs of triangular prisms, introduced so as to shorten the instrument and improve the stereoscopic effect.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > binoculars or field-glasses

prospective glass1616

spectacle telescope1728

field glass1782

race-glass1843

racing glass1854

bird glasses1900

prism binocular1901

prismatic binoculars1905

1901 Brit. Optical Jrnl. Sept. p. iv (advt.) Busch's Prism Binoculars... The lightest and most portable Prism Binocular on the market.

1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 583/2 Ernst Abbe took the matter up de novo in 1893 when he designed prism binoculars and telescopes. His constructions were the forerunners of the modern prism binocular.

1995 Kay & Co. (Worcester) Catal. Autumn–Winter 675/1 (caption) Compact prism binoculars with 7 x magnification..Central focusing.

prism train n. a series of prisms used with a spectroscope to give increased dispersion of light.

ΚΠ

1871 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 42 435 The prism-train consists of five prisms..and two half-prisms.

1968 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 78 342 There are two forms of dispersive element which can be employed in a spectrohelioscope: the prism train in the Littrow type..and the diffraction grating.

1973 Optics Communications 7 103 A comparison of prisms and gratings shows that in general a prism train is preferable as a dispersing device.

Derivatives

ˈprism-like adj. and adv.

ΚΠ

1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qual. in Wks. (1772) III. 56 These crystals..would shoot into prism-like figures.

1875 H. Ellison Stones from Quarry 117 Wit, the brilliant of such temper fine, To such sharp facettes cut, and prism-like wrought.

1935 Lima (Ohio) News 1 Dec. 2/3 Enhanced beauty reflecting on displays back of the prism-like windows.

1995 Sci. Amer. Sept. 58/3 A prismlike switching device called a router diffracts the light traveling through a fiber into its component wavelengths.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	prism
释义	prismn. Brit. /ˈprɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈprɪzəm/ Forms: 1500s–1600s prisme, 1600s– prism, 1700s prysm. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin prisma. Etymology: < post-classical Latin prisma solid geometrical figure (5th cent.) < ancient Greek πρῖσμα sawdust, in Hellenistic Greek also (in geometry) prism (Euclid) < πρίζειν to saw, rare parallel form to πρίειν (see prion n.¹) + -μα (see -oma comb. form). Compare French prisme (1609 in geometry; 1637 in optics), Italian prisma (a1572 in geometry; a1640 in optics in Galileo).With sense 5 compare earlier prismatoid adj., prismatoidal adj. I. The figure, and related senses. 1. Geometry. A solid figure with two end faces that are similar, equal, and parallel rectilinear figures, and whose sides are parallelograms or rectangles. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [noun] > prism prism1570 the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > three-dimensional > prism prism1570 prismoid1704 wedge1723 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Comte de Candale in tr. Euclid Elements Geom. xi. f. 355 Euery parallelipipedon may be resolued into two like, and equal Prismes [L. Prismata]. a1678 J. Newton Cosmographia (1679) v. 20 A Prism is either a Pentahedron, a Hexahedron, or a Polyhedron. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Triangular Prism, a kind of Prism whose two opposite Bases are Triangles alike, parallel and equal. 1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 331 A Prism takes particular names according to the figure of its base or ends, whether triangular, square, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, &c. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 24/2 The wedge being merely the frustum of a triangular prism, we have at once [etc.]. 1945 E. T. Bell Devel. Math. (ed. 2) ii. 40 In their mensuration of solids the Babylonians..gave correct solutions of numerical problems involving..right prisms with trapezoidal bases. 2001 Managem. Sci. 47 665/2 A cylinder is likely to be the best solution; however, we might also look at a rectangular prism as an alternative geometry. 2. a. Optics. A transparent object in the form of a geometrical prism; esp. a right prism whose ends are identical acute-angled triangles, used for refracting light that passes through the sides.Foucault, Nicol, Wollaston prism: see the first element. See also Porro prism n. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments to refract, etc., light > [noun] > prism prism1612 Nicol prism1838 Foucault prism1882 biprism1884 Fresnel biprism1890 Porro prism1909 pentaprism1937 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > prism prism1612 Nicol1838 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > instrument prism1612 spectrometer1874 spectrograph1884 1612 H. Peacham Gentlemans Exercise iii. 150 A most pleasant and delightfull experiment..in a three square cristal prisme, wherin you shal perceiue the blew to be outmost next to that the red. 1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked xlvii. §480 Prismes, (called fools paradises) which transform the colours of things into a thousand shapes. 1728 J. Thomson Spring 13 Here, mighty Newton, the dissolving Clouds Are, as they scatter round, thy numerous Prism. a1743 Ld. Hervey Monimia to Philocles in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (1763) IV. 83 So in the prism to the deluded eye Each pictur'd trifle takes a rainbow dye. 1847 A. De Morgan Formal Logic ii. 35 Wollaston and Fraunhofer have discovered black lines which always exist in the spectrum of solar colours given by a glass prism, in the same relative places. 1894 Astron. & Astro-physics 13 46 Gratings..for placing in front of the object-glass of a telescope, to be used in the same way as an object-glass prism. 1931 H. S. Williams Bk. Marvels 20 Rays of light are split by the prism of the spectroscope into the primary colors. 1988 Jrnl. Navigation 41 330 The compass..was a simple, robust instrument with a large steering prism. b. A spectrum as produced by refraction through a prism. In plural: prismatic colours. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > [noun] > spectrum > seven colours of prism1669 prismatic colour1728 1669 J. Childrey Let. 9 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1968) V. 384 This morning I found ye groat deepely tincted with ye Prisme colours, just as if it had lien some time in ye fire. 1704 J. Elsum Art of Painting after Ital. Manner (new ed.) xlii. 126 In one respect 'tis like White, it [sc. Black] is not to be seen or found in the Prism. c1840 A. Opie in C. L. Brightwell Memorials Life A. Opie (1854) xxii. 334 Oh! the exquisite beauty of the prisms on my ceiling just now. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Day-dream in Poems (new ed.) II. 151 The beams, that thro' the Oriel shine, Make prisms in every carven glass, And beaker brimm'd with noble wine. 1866 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 358 A glass drop chandelier, quaint and old-fashioned, reflected it [sc. the light] in bright prisms. 1989 A. Beattie Picturing Will i. iii. 19 In the late afternoon, the sun moving toward the west struck the globe of the ceiling light, sending prisms of color against the walls. c. figurative. ΚΠ 1791 J. Fennell Lindor & Clara iv. viii. 83 The heart is its own self a prism, refracting on the mind each fear, each doubt, and every dread anxiety concentrated in love. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. vii. 87 I had surveyed the landscape through the prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow. 1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. i. 35 Thought and its expression are but the two sides of the same prism. 1941 L. MacNeice Plant & Phantom 21 And if the world were black or white entirely And all the charts were plain Instead of a mad weir of tigerish waters, A prism of delight and pain. 1964 C. Howell tr. J. Gélineau Voices & Instruments Christian Worship i. 20 By means of melos he lets the words take on the colors of the prism of sentiments which illuminates them. 2005 Independent 28 Apr. 36/3 All these important questions are viewed through the prism of a dysfunctional family living off Hackney's so-called ‘Murder Mile.’ 3. Any object in the form of a geometrical prism. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [noun] > prism > object having form of prism1660 prismoid1704 1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 81 In little Columnes, or Prismes an inch long or more. 1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 191 An iron grate, the bars of which are quadrangular prysms of half an inch square. 1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. II. xiii. 43 The internal cavity is found to be lined with beautiful tetrahedral prisms. 1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xvii. 232 A granitic prism, terminated by a flat surface covered with a tuft of trees, rises to the height of 213 feet. 1862 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies I. v. 329 Hexagonal or octagonal prisms made in extremely fine and thin Terra Cotta. 1957 R. H. Thomson Naturally Occurring Quinones iii. 128 The substance responsible..was isolated as pale red prisms, showing a blue fluorescence in solution. 2001 Fortean Times Jan. 12/3 A spectacular cave of gypsum prisms was discovered in a disused Spanish silver mine. 4. Civil Engineering. A cutting or embankment regarded as a prism or succession of prisms whose cubic content can be readily calculated (cf. prismoidal formula n. at prismoidal adj. Compounds). ΚΠ 1851 Pay as You Go (Evening Post Extra) 4 Such things as building a new lock or enlarging the prism of a canal. 1857 G. L. Vose Handbk. Railroad Constr. 100 The road-bed being nineteen feet wide, and slopes one and a half to one, the formula for the amount of a prism one hundred feet long is [etc.]. 1880 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 440 This reduction,..notwithstanding allowance in excavation, is made for an enlarged prism of canal. 1906 Rep. Board Consulting Engineers Panama Canal 49 There is much rock to be removed from the Canal prism at Obispo. 1961 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 51 54/1 The..theory that an increase in a canal's prism could make up for a great lockage. 1973 Bull. Assoc. Preservation Technol. 5 69 The design of the canal prism was about 50 to 60 feet wide at water level. 5. Crystallography. An open form consisting of three or more planes that meet in edges parallel to the vertical axis of the crystal. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > specific crystal forms > [noun] tripyramid1828 trisoctahedron1837 fluoroid1850 sphenoid1855 discalenohedron1872 prism1878 tetrakis-hexahedron1878 galenoid1882 macroprism1883 semi-form1895 tetartohedron1895 tetrakisdodecahedron1895 trichite1900 1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 51 A group of tautozonal faces is in some cases called a prism. 1895 N. Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. v. §108 The prismatic forms..are constituted each of four planes, the first form being technically termed a prism. 1990 C. Pellant Rocks, Minerals & Fossils 50/1 Crystal forms often enclose space, for example the cube, but other forms like pinacoids (two parallel faces) and prisms (a number of faces meeting at their parallel edges) are open forms. †II. Other senses. 6. Sawdust. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > dust > sawdust prism1656 sawdust1672 1656 T. Blount Glossographia Prism,..the powder or dust of those things that are cut with a Saw. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Prisme,..Saw-dust. Compounds C1. prism-form n., adv., and adj. ΚΠ 1895 N. Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. vii. §328 One of these varieties [of prismatids] includes the vertical or ortho-prism..usually distinguished as the prism-form. 1896 Missouri Bot. Garden 7th Ann. Rep. 109 In the stipe and costa the cells are much elongated, prism-form with either square or wedge-shape ends, arranged in chains. 1992 Science 7 Feb. 708/1 The Muskox intrusion is a prism-form layered mafic intrusion exposed along the Arctic Circle in Northwest Territories, Canada. prism glass n. ΚΠ 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 375/1 Prismes Glasses..represent things of diverse colours, as red, green, yellow, like a Rain-Bow.] 1899 Perry (Iowa) Advertiser 13 Oct. Our Store is now one of the largest, best arranged and..best lighted clothing room in the state. We use the prism glass. 1922 L. Bell Telescope vii. 152 With the exception of these specialized astronomical field glasses the most useful and generally available hand instrument is the prism glass now in very general use. 1989 RIBA Jrnl. Aug. 33/2 The architects opted for ‘prism glass’: an acrylic prism, mirrored on one facet, sandwiched in double-glazed units. prism-hued adj. ΚΠ 1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 44 Joyous feelings, prism-hued. 1956 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 13 July E18/1 (advt.) Prism-hued Costume jewelry... Like a prism, it takes on something of every colour you wear it with. 2002 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 18 Aug. (Books & Ideas section) d8 She (Irene) held her happiness like a fragile, prism-hued soap bubble, shielding it from every lethal breeze. prism-shaped adj. ΚΠ 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. xxii. 224 The Pericarpium is..prismatic, Prism-shaped. 1869 R. F. Burton Explor. Highlands Brazil I. xxix. 286 The prism-shaped hill. 1920 Hopewell (New Jersey) Herald 7 Jan. The poles..are sawed into pieces about an inch long and split into prism-shaped blanks. 1994 R. Preston Hot Zone 133 It [sc. a diamond knife] has a diamond edge—a large, flawless prism-shaped diamond, a gem-quality stone. C2. † prism battery n. Obsolete rare a form of Leclanché battery in which the anode is a carbon plate in contact with two prisms formed from compressed manganese dioxide and carbon powder. ΚΠ a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 723/1 Prism Battery, a form of Leclanché battery in which the usual porous cup is dispensed with, and a pair of compressed prisms containing all the materials formerly used in the porous cup are substituted for it. prism binocular n. (in singular and plural) binoculars containing two pairs of triangular prisms, introduced so as to shorten the instrument and improve the stereoscopic effect. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > binoculars or field-glasses prospective glass1616 spectacle telescope1728 field glass1782 race-glass1843 racing glass1854 bird glasses1900 prism binocular1901 prismatic binoculars1905 1901 Brit. Optical Jrnl. Sept. p. iv (advt.) Busch's Prism Binoculars... The lightest and most portable Prism Binocular on the market. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 583/2 Ernst Abbe took the matter up de novo in 1893 when he designed prism binoculars and telescopes. His constructions were the forerunners of the modern prism binocular. 1995 Kay & Co. (Worcester) Catal. Autumn–Winter 675/1 (caption) Compact prism binoculars with 7 x magnification..Central focusing. prism train n. a series of prisms used with a spectroscope to give increased dispersion of light. ΚΠ 1871 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 42 435 The prism-train consists of five prisms..and two half-prisms. 1968 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 78 342 There are two forms of dispersive element which can be employed in a spectrohelioscope: the prism train in the Littrow type..and the diffraction grating. 1973 Optics Communications 7 103 A comparison of prisms and gratings shows that in general a prism train is preferable as a dispersing device. Derivatives ˈprism-like adj. and adv. ΚΠ 1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qual. in Wks. (1772) III. 56 These crystals..would shoot into prism-like figures. 1875 H. Ellison Stones from Quarry 117 Wit, the brilliant of such temper fine, To such sharp facettes cut, and prism-like wrought. 1935 Lima (Ohio) News 1 Dec. 2/3 Enhanced beauty reflecting on displays back of the prism-like windows. 1995 Sci. Amer. Sept. 58/3 A prismlike switching device called a router diffracts the light traveling through a fiber into its component wavelengths. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1570
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