prism

English

Etymology

Latin prisma, from Ancient Greek πρίσμα (prísma, “something sawed”), from πρίζω (prízō, “to saw”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/, [ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩]
• Rhymes: -ɪzəm

Noun

prism (plural prisms)

1. (geometry) A polyhedron with parallel ends of the same size and shape, the other faces being parallelogram-shaped sides.
2. A transparent block in the shape of a prism (typically with triangular ends), used to split or reflect light.
3. A crystal in which the faces are parallel to the vertical axis.
4. (figurative) A perspective that colors one's perception.
   • 2023 June 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 1 - 0 Inter Milan”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     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.

Hyponyms

• cylinder

Derived terms

• accretionary prism
• antiprism
• Dove prism
• hexagonal prism
• irregular prism
• Nicol prism
• pentagonal prism
• Porro prism
• prismatic
• prismatically
• prismatoid
• prismatoid
• prism glass
• prismoid
• roof prism
• triangular prism
• wedge prism
• Wollaston prism

 

Descendants

• → Japanese: プリズム (purizumu)
• → Korean: 프리즘 (peurijeum)
• → Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m)

Translations

geometry: polyhedron with parallel ends of the same size and shape

• Albanian: prizëm (sq) m
• Arabic: مَنْشُور‎ m (manšūr)
• Armenian: պրիզմա (hy) (prizma)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܢܣܝܼܪܵܐ‎ m (nsīrā)
• Azerbaijani: prizma
• Belarusian: пры́зма f (prýzma)
• Bulgarian: при́зма (bg) f (prízma)
• Burmese: ပရစ်ဇမ် (my) (pa.racjam)
• Catalan: prisma m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稜柱／棱柱 (zh) (léngzhù)

• Czech: hranol (cs) m
• Danish: prisme n
• Dutch: prisma (nl) n
• Esperanto: prismo
• Finnish: särmiö (fi), prisma (fi)
• French: prisme (fr) m
• Galician: prisma (gl) m
• Georgian: პრიზმა (ṗrizma)
• German: Prisma (de) n
• Greek: πρίσμα (el) n (prísma)

  Ancient: πρίσμα n (prísma)

• Hebrew: מִנְסָרָה‎ (he) f (minsará)
• Hindi: प्रिज़्म m (prizm)
• Hungarian: hasáb (hu)
• Ido: prismato (io)
• Italian: prisma (it) m
• Japanese: 角柱 (ja) (かくちゅう, kakuchū), プリズム (purizumu)
• Kazakh: призма (prizma)
• Khmer: ព្រីស (priih)
• Korean: 프리즘 (peurijeum), 각기둥 (ko) (gakgidung)
• Kyrgyz: призма (ky) (prizma)
• Macedonian: при́зма f (prízma)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prisme (no) n

  Nynorsk: prisme n

• Occitan: prisma (oc) m
• Persian: مَنشور‎ (fa) (manšur), شوشِه‎ (fa) (šuše)
• Polish: graniastosłup (pl) m
• Portuguese: prisma (pt) m
• Romagnol: prìșma m
• Romanian: prismă (ro) f
• Russian: при́зма (ru) f (prízma)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: при̏зма f

  Roman: prȉzma (sh) f

• Slovak: hranol (sk) m
• Slovene: prizma (sl) f
• Spanish: prisma (es) m
• Swedish: prisma (sv) n or c
• Tagalog: balimbing
• Tajik: призма (prizma), маншур (manšur)
• Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m)
• Turkish: prizma (tr)
• Ukrainian: при́зма (uk) f (prýzma)
• Uzbek: prizma (uz)
• Vietnamese: hình lăng trụ
• Volapük: prismat (vo)

block used to split or reflect light

• Albanian: prizëm (sq) m
• Arabic: مَنْشُور‎ m (manšūr), مَوْشُور‎ m (mawšūr)
• Armenian: պրիզմա (hy) (prizma)
• Azerbaijani: prizma
• Belarusian: пры́зма f (prýzma)
• Bulgarian: при́зма (bg) f (prízma)
• Catalan: prisma m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稜鏡／棱镜 (zh) (léngjìng)

• Czech: hranol (cs) m
• Danish: prisme n or c
• Dutch: prisma (nl) n
• Esperanto: prismo
• Estonian: prisma
• Finnish: prisma (fi)
• French: prisme (fr) m
• Galician: prisma (gl) m
• Georgian: პრიზმა (ṗrizma)
• German: Prisma (de) n
• Greek: πρίσμα (el) n (prísma)
• Hindi: प्रिज़्म m (prizm)
• Hungarian: prizma (hu)
• Icelandic: prisma n
• Ido: prismato (io)
• Italian: prisma (it) m
• Japanese: 三稜鏡 (ja) (さんりょうきょう, sanryōkyō), プリズム (purizumu)
• Kannada: ಅಶ್ರಕ (aśraka)
• Kazakh: призма (prizma)
• Kyrgyz: призма (ky) (prizma)
• Latvian: prizma f
• Lithuanian: prizmė f
• Macedonian: при́зма f (prízma)
• Maori: poro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prisme (no) n

  Nynorsk: prisme n

• Occitan: prisma (oc) m
• Persian: مَنشور‎ (fa) (manšur)
• Polish: pryzmat (pl) m
• Portuguese: prisma (pt) m
• Romanian: prismă (ro) f
• Russian: при́зма (ru) f (prízma)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: при̏зма f

  Roman: prȉzma (sh) f

• Slovak: hranol (sk) m
• Slovene: prizma (sl) f
• Spanish: prisma (es) m
• Swedish: prisma (sv) n or c
• Tajik: призма (prizma), маншур (manšur)
• Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m)
• Ukrainian: при́зма (uk) f (prýzma)
• Urdu: مَنْشُور‎ (manśūr)
• Uzbek: prizma (uz)
• Vietnamese: lăng kính (vi)
• Volapük: prismat (vo)

Anagrams

• prims