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Added 9 October 2026

prism

/ˈpɹɪz(ə)m/ noun

In Latin: prisma Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about prism at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A polyhedron with two congruent and parallel faces (the bases) and whose lateral faces are parallelograms.
Optical device having a triangular shape and made of glass or quartz; used to deviate a beam or invert an image.

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (“(geometry) prism”), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prĭ́zō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology unknown) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, etc.).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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