prism
noun
Simple meaning
A transparent block in the shape of a prism, usually with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prizuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɪzəm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
optics
A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
geometry
A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.
Optical device having a triangular shape and made of glass or quartz; used to deviate a beam or invert an image
An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).
figurative
A perspective that colours one's perception.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (optics) A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
Used this way, prism is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prism
- “A glass prism can split white light into all the colors of the rainbow.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.