spectacle

English

Etymology

From Middle English spectacle, from Middle French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum (“a show, spectacle”), from spectō (“to see, behold”), frequentative of speciō (“to see”). See species. Doublet of spectaculum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɛktəkl̩/
• Hyphenation: spec‧ta‧cle

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

spectacle (plural spectacles)

1. (countable) An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.

   Synonyms: pageant, show

   The horse race was a thrilling spectacle.

   • 1876, Robert Southey, edited by John Wood Warter, Choice passages‎^[1], Reaves and Turner, page 555:

     But scarcely was it set upon the table when the whole was carried off and plundered by the people who came to see the spectacle of the entertainment

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:

     VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[2]

     In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

2. (uncountable) Drama and excitement in a display, product, performance, exhibition, etc.

   I enjoyed her presentation, but it needs more spectacle.

3. (countable) An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.

   He made a spectacle out of himself.

4. (countable) Attributive form of spectacles.
   • 1858 August 14, Peleg Parsley Bell, “Seeing the World. Letter No. 5. […] Still in London.”, in The Flag of Our Union, volume XIII, number 33, Boston, Mass.: M[aturin] M[urray] Ballou, page 260, column 2:

     Some very interesting relics of Adam and Eve were shown us, that were brought from America; such as a fine-tooth comb, made of thorns, a part of a pair of leather spectacle frames, without glasses, a boot jack made of ebony, and a set of pawpaws of props, with the backs filled with a hard substance, resembling lava.

5. (countable, zoology) The brille of a snake.
6. (countable, rail transport) A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.

Synonyms

• (optical instrument): glasses, eyeglasses, specs

Derived terms

• bespectacled
• counterspectacle
• make a public spectacle of oneself
• make a spectacle of oneself
• minispectacle
• spectacle case
• spectacled
• spectacleless
• spectaclelike
• spectaclemaker
• spectaclemaking
• spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch
• superspectacle

Related terms

• species
• spectacular
• speculate

Translations

something exciting or extraordinary

• Arabic: مَشْهَد m (mašhad), مَسْرَحِيَّة f (masraḥiyya)
• Azerbaijani: tamaşa (az)
• Bashkir: тамаша (tamaşa)
• Belarusian: відо́вішча (be) n (vidóvišča), спекта́кль m (spjektáklʹ)
• Bhojpuri: तमासा (tamāsā)
• Bulgarian: зре́лище (bg) n (zrélište), спекта́къл (bg) m (spektákăl)
• Catalan: espectacle (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奇觀 / 奇观 (zh) (qíguān)

• Czech: podívaná (cs) f
• Danish: skue n
• Dutch: spektakel (nl) n
• Esperanto: spektaklo (eo)
• Finnish: näytelmä (fi), näky (fi), spektaakkeli (fi)
• French: spectacle (fr) m
• Galician: espectáculo (gl) m
• German: Spektakel (de) n, Schauspiel (de) n
• Greek: θέαμα (el) n (théama)

  Ancient Greek: θέαμα n (théama)

• Hungarian: látvány (hu), látnivaló (hu), látványosság (hu)
• Italian: spettacolo (it) m
• Japanese: 壮観 (ja) (そうかん, sōkan), 光景 (ja) (こうけい, kōkei), スペクタクル (supekutakuru)
• Kazakh: көрініс (körinis)
• Korean: 광경(光景) (ko) (gwanggyeong), 스펙터클 (seupekteokeul)
• Kyrgyz: көрүнүш (ky) (körünüş)
• Latin: spectāculum (la) n
• Latvian: izstāde f, ekspozīcija f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skue n

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مَنْظَرِه (manzare), تَماشا (tamâšâ), نَمایِش (namâyeš)

• Polish: widowisko (pl) n, spektakl (pl) m
• Portuguese: espetáculo (pt) m, show (pt) m, mostra (pt) f
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਤਮਾਸ਼ਾ m (tamāśā)

• Romanian: spectacol (ro) n
• Russian: зре́лище (ru) n (zrélišče), спекта́кль (ru) m (spektáklʹ), представле́ние (ru) n (predstavlénije)
• Slovak: podívaná f
• Spanish: espectáculo (es) m
• Swedish: spektakel (sv) n, syn (sv) c
• Tajik: манзара (manzara), тамошо (tg) (tamošo), намоиш (namoyiš)
• Turkish: manzara (tr), temaşa (tr)
• Turkmen: tomaşa
• Ukrainian: видо́вище n (vydóvyšče), видо́висько n (vydóvysʹko), спекта́кль m (spektáklʹ)
• Uyghur: تاماشا (tamasha), كۆرۈنۈش (körünüsh)
• Uzbek: tomosha (uz), manzara (uz), koʻrinish (uz)

an embarrassing situation

• Finnish: näytös (fi)
• Portuguese: espectáculo (pt) m
• Spanish: espectáculo (es) m, papelón (es) m (colloquial)
• Swedish: spektakel (sv) n

optical instrument — see spectacles

aid to intellectual sight

• Finnish: peili (fi), silmälasit (fi) pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} cảnh tượng (vi), ^{(please verify)} cảnh tượng (vi), ^{(please verify)} sự trình diễn, ^{(please verify)} sự biểu diễn, ^{(please verify)} kính (vi)

Further reading

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

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti

Proto-Italic *spekjō

Latin speciō

Latin spectō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Italic *-klom

Latin -culum

Latin spectaculumbor.

Old French spectacle

Middle French spectacle

French spectacle

From Latin spectaculum, from spectare (“to look”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spɛk.takl/
• Hyphenation: spec‧ta‧cle

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

spectacle m (plural spectacles)

1. a show, a spectacle, a performance, a concert

   Ils ont estimé qu'il est divertissant et qu'il se démarque nettement du spectacle actuel.

   They thought it was entertaining and that there was a clear difference between it and the current show.

2. a sight, a showing, a display

   Devant un tel spectacle ils se jetèrent à genoux pleurant les morts de leurs compatriotes.

   They went down on their knees crying for the deaths of their fellow countrymen at this atrocious sight.

Derived terms

• s'offrir en spectacle
• se donner en spectacle

Descendants

• → Czech: spektákl
• → German: Spektakel
  • → Danish: spektakel
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: spetakkel
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: spetakkel
• → Polish: spektakl
• → Romanian: spectacul, spectacol
• → Russian: спекта́кль (spektáklʹ)
  • → Uzbek: spektakl
  • → Yakut: испэктээк (ispekteek)

Further reading

• “spectacle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Middle English

Noun

spectacle

1. something that helps understanding
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     Pouert a spectacle is, as thynketh me / Through which one may his very frendes se

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: spectacle