spectacle
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
Part or all of this page has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English < Old French spectacle < Latin spectaculum (“‘a show, spectacle’”) < spectare (“‘to see, behold’”), frequentative of specere (“‘to see’”); see species.
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
spectacle (plural spectacles)
- Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkable or noteworthy sight; a show; a pageant; a gazingstock.
- (obsolete) A spyglass; a looking-glass.
- Chaucer
- Poverty a spectacle is, as thinketh me, Through which he may his very friends see.
- Chaucer
- (usually in plural) An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.
- (figuratively) An aid to the intellectual sight.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
something exhibited to view
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Translations to be checked
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[edit] External links
- spectacle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- spectacle in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
[edit] French
[edit] Etymology
From Latin spectaculum, from spectare "to look".
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
spectacle m. (plural spectacles)
