heteroptics

English

Etymology

hetero- +‎ optics

Noun

heteroptics (uncountable)

1. hallucination; the vision of something that is not real.
   • 1711 December 28 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, December 17, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 250; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     But this irregularity in vision , together with such enormities , as tipping the wink , the circumspective roll , the sidepeep through a thin hood or fan , must be put in the class of Heteroptics.

     The spelling has been modernized.

References

• “heteroptics”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.