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 twisted woods would slowly become a prism of color, the lights growing brighter and brighter with each passing hour.

From Literature

And yet his career should not be judged through the prism of these failures.

From BBC

Bond traders mostly agree that the Fed sees the current situation through that prism: An ounce of prevention now is worth a pound of cure.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

“Defiance” offers a prism on Syria’s authoritarian society before the 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war, and vivid snapshots of the devastation that the war unleashed.

From Los Angeles Times