optic

See also: òptic

English

Alternative forms

• optick, optique (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French optique or Medieval Latin opticus, from Ancient Greek ὀπτῐκός (optĭkós, “of or for sight”), from ὀπτός (optós, “visible”) +‎ -ῐκός (-ĭkós, “-ic”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒp.tɪk/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Atlantic Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑp.tɪk/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɒp.tɪk/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈɔp.tɪk/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈɔ̟p.tək]
• Rhymes: -ɒptɪk

Adjective

optic (not comparable)

1. (relational) Of, or relating to the eye or to vision.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     The moon, whose orb / Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views.

2. (optics, relational) Of, or relating to optics or optical instruments.

Derived terms

• acoustooptic
• acousto-optic effect
• biooptic
• electrooptic
• entoptic
• fiberoptic
• fibre optic
• fluoroptic
• holoptic
• hyperoptic
• Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy
• magnetooptic
• monoptic
• optical
• optic axis
• optic chiasm
• optic chiasma
• optic cup
• optic disc
• optic disk
• optic foramen
• opticist
• optic nerve
• optic neuritis
• optico-
• optic yellow
• panoptic
• paroptic
• perioptic
• piezooptic
• plenoptic
• postoptic
• preoptic
• stereoptic
• suboptic
• supraoptic

Translations

of or relating to the eye or to vision

• Bulgarian: очен (očen), зрителен (zritelen)
• Catalan: òptic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 視覺的 / 视觉的 (zh) (shìjué de)

• Danish: optisk (da)
• Esperanto: optika
• Galician: óptico (gl)
• German: optisch (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ὀπτικός (optikós)

• Indonesian: optis (id), optik (id)
• Irish: optach
• Malay: optik (ms)
• Māori: ōmata
• Portuguese: óptico (pt), ótico (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: optic (ro)
• Russian: оптический (ru) (optičeskij)
• Spanish: óptico (es)

of or relating to optics or optical instruments

• Bulgarian: оптичен (optičen)
• Catalan: òptic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 光學的 / 光学的 (zh) (guāngxué de)

• Czech: optický (cs)
• Danish: optisk (da)
• Esperanto: optika
• Galician: óptico (gl)
• German: optisch (de)
• Hindi: प्रकाशीय (prakāśīya)
• Indonesian: optis (id), optik (id)
• Irish: optaice
• Malay: optik (ms)
• Marathi: प्रकाशिक (prakāśik), प्रकाशीय (prakāśīy)
• Portuguese: óptico (pt), ótico (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: optic (ro)
• Russian: оптический (ru) (optičeskij)
• Spanish: óptico (es)

Noun

optic (plural optics)

1. (archaic, humorous) An eye.
   • 1734, Alexander Pope, Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men: An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Cobham:

     The difference is as great between / The optics seeing, as the object seen.

   • 1819, Lord Byron, “Canto 1”, in Don Juan, section 46:

     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 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter 8, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     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. (optics) A lens or other part of an optical instrument that interacts with light.
   • 2013, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 101, number 4, →DOI, archived from the original on 23 March 2021, page 270:

     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. (trademark in UK) A measuring device with a small window, attached to an upside-down bottle, used to dispense alcoholic drinks in a bar.
   • 2014, M. P. Wright, Heartman:

     They were neatly lined up on three shelves between the optics of martini, vodka, whisky and gin.

   • 2018, Denise Mina, Exile:

     They pulled up two bar stools and looked around the room as the barman relieved the whisky optic of its contents.

Derived terms

• optic stand

Translations

eye — see eye

optical instrument

• Bulgarian: леща (bg) f (lešta)

References

• “optic”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “optic”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Further reading

• Alcoholic spirits measure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “optic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “optic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “optic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• -topic, cop it, picot, topic

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin opticuslbor.

French optiquebor.

Romanian optic

Borrowed from French optique.

Adjective

optic m or n (feminine singular optică, masculine plural optici, feminine/neuter plural optice)

1. optic

Declension

Declension of optic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	optic		optică	optici	optice
	definite	opticul		optica	opticii	opticele
genitive- dative	indefinite	optic		optice	optici	optice
	definite	opticului		opticei	opticilor	opticelor