Meaning of Prism | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same polygonal shape and size, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.
2. An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).
3. A cutting (“open passage at a level lower than the surrounding terrain, dug for a canal, railway, or road to go through”) or an embankment shaped like a prism (sense 1) or a number of prisms, such that its volume can be easily calculated.
4. A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis.
5. A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
6. A spectrum produced by light being refracted through a prism.
   archaic
7. A retroreflector (“device which reflects light back to its source with minimal scattering”) which is usually attached to a surveying pole as a target for a total station which emits a light beam at the device and calculates how long it takes to be reflected back in order to measure distance.
   broadly
8. A perspective that colours one's perception.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“[page 13] One of theſe Parts [of a piece of black paper] I painted vvith a red Colour and the other vvith a blevv. […] This Paper I vievved through a Priſm of ſolid Glaſs, vvhoſe tvvo Sides through vvhich the Light⟳ paſſed to the Eye vvere plane and vvell poliſhed, and contained an Angle of about Sixty Degrees: vvhich Angle I call⟳ the refracting Angle of the Priſm. […] [page 17] Theſe Experiments may ſuffice for the Colours of Natural Bodies. For in the Colours made by the Refraction of Priſms this Propoſition vvill appear⟳ by the Experiments vvhich are novv to follovv in the next Propoſition.”

“Here, avvful [Isaac] Newton, the diſſolving clouds / Form⟳, fronting on the ſun, thy ſhovvery priſm; / And to the ſage-inſtructed eye unfold / The various tvvine of light⟳, by thee diſclos'd / From the vvhite mingling maze.”

“The beams, that thro' the Oriel shine⟳, / Make⟳ prisms in every carven glass, […]”

“I had surveyed the landscape through the prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow.”

“It is a simple fact that many outside the Abu Dhabi-owned club will always view⟳ their triumph through the prism of the charges of 115 financial breaches brought against them by the Premier League, charges they fiercely deny⟳.”

CEFR level