aperture

Borrowed from Latin apertūra (“opening”), from apertus, past participle of aperīre (“to open, uncover”), opposed to operīre (“to close, cover”). See aperient. Doublet of overture.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæp.ə.tʃə(ɹ)/, /ˈæp.ə.tjʊə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæp.ɚ.tʃɚ/
• Hyphenation: ap‧er‧ture

aperture (plural apertures)

1. An opening, gap, or hole, usually small and narrow

   an aperture in a wall

   • 1860, Samuel Hannaford, Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria Chapter 7

     In the centre of the fleshy membrane is an aperture leading into a deep cavity, at the bottom of which is placed a prominent piston that may be retracted by muscular fibres provided for the purpose.

   • 1859, Richard Owen, On the Classification and Geographical Distribution of the Mammalia, London: J. W. Parker and Son, page 29:

     Were the larynx of the little creature like that of the parent, the milk might—probably would—enter the windpipe and cause suffocation : but the fœtal larynx is cone-shaped, with the opening at the apex, which projects, as in the whale-tribe, into the back aperture of the nostrils, where it is closely embraced by muscles of the ‘soft palate.’

2. (optics) Something which restricts the diameter of the light path through one plane in an optical system.
3. (astronomy, photography) The diameter of the aperture (in the sense above) which restricts the width of the light path through the whole system. For a telescope, this is the diameter of the objective lens.

   This telescope has a 100cm aperture.

4. (spaceflight, communication) The (typically) large-diameter antenna used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency energy containing the data used in communication satellites, especially in the geostationary belt. For a comsat, this is typically a large reflective dish antenna; sometimes called an array.
5. (mathematics, rare, of a right circular cone) The maximum angle between the two generatrices.

   If the generatrix makes an angle θ to the axis, then the aperture is 2θ.

The aperture of microscopes is often expressed in degrees, called also the angular aperture, which signifies the angular breadth of the pencil of light which the instrument transmits from the object or point viewed; as, a microscope of 100° aperture.

• aperture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• aperture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Borrowed from Latin apertūra (“opening”). Doublet of ouverture.

• IPA^(key): /a.pɛʁ.tyʁ/

aperture f (uncountable)

1. (phonetics, phonology) opening, openness, aperture

• apéritif
• ouvrir

• “aperture” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• Rhymes: -ure

aperture f

1. plural of apertura

• reputare
• reputerà

apertūre

1. vocative masculine singular of apertūrus

aperture

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of aperturar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of aperturar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of aperturar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of aperturar.