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Prism   /prˈɪzəm/   Listen
noun
Prism  n.  
1.
(Geom.) A solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane figures, and whose sides are parallelograms. Note: Prisms of different forms are often named from the figure of their bases; as, a triangular prism, a quadrangular prism, a rhombic prism, etc.
2.
(Opt.) A transparent body, with usually three rectangular plane faces or sides, and two equal and parallel triangular ends or bases; used in experiments on refraction, dispersion, etc.
3.
(Crystallog.) A form the planes of which are parallel to the vertical axis. See Form, n., 13.
Achromatic prism (Opt.), a prism composed usually of two prisms of different transparent substances which have unequal dispersive powers, as two different kinds of glass, especially flint glass and crown glass, the difference of dispersive power being compensated by giving them different refracting angles, so that, when placed together so as to have opposite relative positions, a ray of light passed through them is refracted or bent into a new position, but is free from color.
Nicol's prism, Nicol prism. (Opt.) An instrument for experiments in polarization, consisting of a rhomb of Iceland spar, which has been bisected obliquely at a certain angle, and the two parts again joined with transparent cement, so that the ordinary image produced by double refraction is thrown out of the field by total reflection from the internal cemented surface, and the extraordinary, or polarized, image alone is transmitted.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Prism" Quotes from Famous Books



... us that Democritus was the first to state, though he could not give a rigorous proof, that the volume of a cone or a pyramid is one-third of that of the cylinder or prism respectively on the same base and having equal height, theorems ...
— The Legacy of Greece • Various

... primero first. primitivo primitive. principado principality. principe prince. principiar to begin. principio beginning, principle. prisa haste, promptness, celerity; de — in a hurry. prision f. prison, imprisonment, capture. prisionero -a prisoner. prisma m. prism. pristino pristine, original. probar to prove, try. problema m problem. procaz forward, petulant, insolent. procedencia source, derivation. procedente proceeding. proceder to proceed. procer ...
— Novelas Cortas • Pedro Antonio de Alarcon

... soundless as the light, but never disturbing the matchless order of his array? What plume from African deserts can rival the rich hues, the graceful curves, and the palm-like erectness of his tail? All his colors are tropical in depth and intensity. With every quick motion the tints change as in a prism, and each tint is more splendid than the last; green more beautiful than any green, except that of a duck's neck; brown infiltrated with gold, and ranging through the whole gamut of its possibilities. I am not sure that this last is correct in point of expression, ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 92, June, 1865 • Various

... compressive test pieces in the 10,000,000-lb. machine is a prism, having a base of 12 in. and being 24 in. high. The tests include not only those for compression or crushing strength, but also those for resistance to compressive strains of the prisms and cubes, when raised to high temperatures in muffles or kilns; resistance to weathering, freezing, ...
— Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 • Herbert M. Wilson

... low laugh startled Debby, though it was smothered like the babes in the Tower; and, turning, she beheld the trespasser scarlet with confusion, and sobered with a tardy sense of his transgression. Debby was not a starched young lady of the "prune and prism" school, but a frank, free-hearted little body, quick to read the sincerity of others, and to take looks and words at their real value. Dickens was her idol; and for his sake she could have forgiven a greater offence ...
— A Modern Cinderella - or The Little Old Show and Other Stories • Louisa May Alcott


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