optic

See also: òptic

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French optique, from Medieval Latin opticus, from Ancient Greek ὀπτικός (optikós, “of seeing”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

optic (not comparable)

  1. Of, or relating to the eye or to vision.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
      The moon, whose orb / Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views.
  2. Of, or relating to optics or optical instruments.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

optic (plural optics)

  1. (now humorous) An eye.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope
      The difference is as great between / The optics seeing, as the object seen.
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:
      how they, / Who saw those figures on the margin kiss all, / Could turn their optics to the text and pray, / Is more than I know […]
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
      Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
  2. A lens or other part of an optical instrument that interacts with light.
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
  3. A measuring device with a small window, attached to an upside-down bottle, used to dispense alcoholic drinks in a bar.

Translations

Further reading
  • optic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • optic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  • optic at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams
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