optical
/ˈɒptɪkəl/AHP-tih-kuhl
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˈɑptɪkəl/AHP-tih-kuhl
Meaningrelating to optics or sight
Common meaning: of the eye or light
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- optto do with seeing; sightLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1065 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
- aladjective ending: relating to
Journey through time
- Greekὀπτικός; ὄψις‘to do with seeing’
- Frenchoptique
- Englishoptic‘of the eye or sight’
- Englishformed in English from opticoptical‘of the eye or light’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from optic + -al.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), OPTIC, p.404 · scan
Roots
- ὀπτικός; ὄψις Greek “to do with seeing; sight”
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