opticadj.n.
/ˈɒptɪk/, U.S. /ˈɑptɪk/ A. adj.
1.
a. Anatomy. Of, relating to or connected with the eye or with the process of vision. Chiefly in the names of particular structures of the eye and the brain (see Compounds).
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective]
ophthalmic?a1425
optic?a1425
ocular1598
oculopalpebral1867
oculofrontal1890
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 41 Out of þe formest partie of þe brayn comeþ tweye hologh senewes þat ben I-clepid optici [L. obtici].]
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 11v (MED) It bihoueþ þe neruez obtic [?c1425 Paris synowes opitikes; L. neruos opticos] for to be perced þat þai shuld be waie of þe spirit.
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. i. i. f. 3/2 That they might receaue the visible spirite by the synnowe called Optique.
1650 W. Charleton tr. J. B. van Helmont Ternary of Paradoxes (new ed.) 59 The effascination by the optick emission of the eyes.
1718 M. Prior Alma i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 320 Two Optic Nerves, They say, she tYes, Like Spectacles, a-cross the Eyes.
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 176 The alisphenoids protect the sides of the optic lobes.
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. ix. 387 This decussation of fibres is called the optic commissure or chiasma.
1947 A. D. Imms Outl. Entomol. (ed. 3) ii. 39 The retinula is composed of a group of 7 pigmented visual cells which collectively secrete an internal optic rod or rhabdom.
1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons Vertebr. Body (ed. 6) vii. 194 The eye..is not enclosed (although there may be considerable cartilage in the wall of the eyeball—in a sense an optic capsule).
b. Medicine. Of a disease or disorder: affecting the eyes; (also, of an operation) performed on the eye (rare).
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1873 H. C. Angell Treat. Dis. Eye 29 An optic neuritis is connected with meningitis of the base of the brain.
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. 254/2 Optic neurotomy, division of the optic nerve.
1931 Science 5 June 614/1 Cataract, glaucoma, optic atrophy, myopia, etc., are inherited in a great many instances.
1989 Brain 112 1092 Others have argued that optic aphasia is attributable to impaired object recognition.
2. Designating the art or science of optics. Formerly also: †skilled in or relating to optics (obsolete).
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical skills and techniques > [adjective]
optic1569
1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 34 Nexte after Geometrie, is the Arte Opticke [L. optica] which is called Perspectiue.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus Yet haue they the Art optick to search out thy drifts. They will knowe thy visage by thy vizarde, thy pretended subteltie by thy counterfeit simplicitie.
1631 tr. J. A. Comenius Porta Linguarum Reserata lxxvi. §769 An opticke or speculatiue man searcheth discernable rayes or beames, and visible obiects..discerning, and according thereunto fashioning..perspective glasses.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia (at cited word) The Optick Science is that by which the reason of sight is known.
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §6. 4 Another way, mention'd by the Optic Writers.
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §29. 18 I shall lay before you..the Words..with which he concludes his Optic Lectures.
1933 J. Meier-Graefe Vincent Van Gogh iv. 89 The optic sciences, led by Chevreul, had already established laws governing the choice, arrangement, division and gradation of colours.
2000 Buffalo News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 11 June (Lifestyles) 4 The bridegroom is a graduate of Northwestern University and received a doctorate in optic science from University of Arizona.
3. gen. Of or relating to sight; visual. Now rare.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [adjective]
perspective?a1475
optical1570
optic1600
visual1603
specular1656
speculative1656
visional1790
visionary1814
ocular1831
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor ii. i. sig. Eivv Dazle, you organs to my optique sence.
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job ix. 11 God is all window, and he, like the Optike vertue in the eye, seeth all, and is seen of none.
1805 T. Harral Scenes of Life II. 44 His optic senses were somewhat awakened by the brilliant appearance.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. x. 98/2 May we not well cry shame on an ungrateful world..that will waste its optic faculty on dried Crocodiles, and Siamese Twins!
1926 J. B. Cabell Straws & Prayer-bks. (new ed.) 211 The..critics..have pointed out how intensely Mr. Hergesheimer realizes the sensuous world of his characters and, in particular, the optic world.
1968 Brain 91 336 This is similar to what occurs in cases of schizophrenic optic illusions leading to hallucinations.
4. Of an instrument or device: constructed to assist vision; (also) acting by means of light.See also optic fibre n. at Compounds, optic glass n., optic tube n. at Compounds.
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1607 T. Walkington (title) The optick glasse of humors.
a1626 L. Andrewes Serm. (1856) I. 42 We shall need no prospective glasses, or optic instruments, to make it visible.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iv. §3. 376 An Optique box, used as help in Drawing.
1748 Lady Luxborough Let. 11 Sept. in Lett. to W. Shenstone (1775) 54 Mr. Sanders speaking of the dimension of his Optic Glasses..put me in mind of measuring mine.
1884 Guardian 3 Sept. 1293/3 The general..with whom he was in communication by optic telegraph.
1930 H. T. Stetson Man & Stars vi. 55 The elders of that day refused to look through Galileo's optic tube to see the moons of Jupiter.
1988 Washington Post 2 Dec. e1/1 I drive a van. It has lots of windows, three mirrors and an optic patch on the rear window.
5. Of or relating to the path of light, esp. through the eye. Now rare.See also optic angle n., optic axis n., optic axis n. at Compounds.
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1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 80 Take a fresh Eye..cut it with a plain Parallel to the Optick Axis.
1781 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 72 96 It has been observed, that objects grow indistinct when the principal optic pencil at the eye becomes less than the 40th or 50th part of an inch in diameter.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xii. 258 The angle between the optic axes in some crystals is so small as to permit of seeing them readily.
1972 J. Stone & A. J. Phillips Contact Lenses iv. 105 The optic radii of a contact lens are similar to those of the cornea.
B. n.† 1. [See etymological note at optics n.] = optics n. Obsolete.† 4. A person skilled in optics. Obsolete.In quot. 1636: one who has a ‘good eye’ or well-trained sight.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical skills and techniques > [noun]
perspectivea1387
optic1563
optics1579
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > [noun] > science of
optic1563
optics1579
photology1828
photics1858
1563 J. Shute First Grovndes Archit. Bijv Consequently in Opticke and in such lyke sciences he must haue good perceuerance.
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Ottica, the science whereby the reason of sight is knowen, the optike.
1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) ii. ii. iv. 260 Arithmeticke, Geometry, Perspectiue, Opticke, Astronomy.
1646 J. Saltmarsh Some Drops of Viall i. 18 Bringing in Christ by Obtick or sense, and making conversion to be by perspective.
1869 Eng. Mech. 17 Dec. 329/1 Can they be explained according to the laws..of optic and perspective?
2.
a. Originally: †a simple lens, as an eyeglass or magnifying glass; (also) †an optical instrument, as a telescope (obsolete). Now: a camera lens. Also figurative.Quot. 1599 may belong at sense A. 1; though the figurative use in quot. 1621 implies that the literal sense was already in existence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > [noun] > instrument for looking through
perspectivec1395
spectaclec1430
prospectionc1460
perspective glass1570
optic1599
optic glass1607
optical glassc1660
glass1700
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > lens > [noun]
glass1545
optic1599
optic glass1607
perspicil1611
lenticular1658
spectacle-glass1682
lens1693
speculum1756
optical1944
lenslet1956
1599 T. Storer Life & Death Wolsey sig. H Yea they, whose opticke still redoubles light, And teaches men how they may see too farre That Art which bids Natures poore eies good night.
1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret i. i. sig. Biv The sinnes we doe, people behold through opticks, Which shewes vm ten times more than common vices.
a1631 J. Donne To Mr. Tilman in Div. Poems 46 If then, th' astronomers, whereas they spy A new-found star, their opticks magnify.
1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. iii. §16 She that can make her mourning veil an optic to draw a new lover neerer to her sight.
1745 E. Haywood Female Spectator No. 17 (1748) III. 268 The telescope was again unscrewed,..when..they were obliged to draw in the optic, and make fast the window, against which it had been placed.
a1806 H. K. White Remains (1807) I. 289 Which bright thro' hope's deceitful optics beam'd.
1886 Daily Tel. 7 Apr. 5/4 One of the two places..where alone these gigantic ‘opticks’ can be properly perfected.
1978 SLR Camera Aug. 47/3 Considering this optic is a continuous focusing unit from 6 ft to 6 inches, this is a very commendable performance.
1991 Photo Answers June 84/2 The lens isn't awful, in fact for the money it's pretty good, but spending a few quid more will get you a better optic.
b. In plural. The optical components of an instrument or apparatus.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > [noun]
eye1858
autoscope1873
optics1942
1942 J. Mitchell Ilford Man. Photogr. xiv. 297 (heading) Optics of the condenser enlarger.
1962 Analyt. Chem. 34 242/2 A double-beam infrared microspectrophotometer employing a double-beam-in-time system and reflecting optics having 8× magnification.
1993 Nature 29 Apr. 778/3 The repairs to be carried out include..the installation of a device to correct the optics of the troubled telescope.
c. A particular way of interpreting or experiencing something; a viewpoint, a perspective.Frequently in contexts dealing with French literature, critical theory, etc.
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1958 French Rev. 31 386 Schehadé's optic resembles that of Giraudoux insofar as both dramatists tend to see life through the eyes of innocence.
1972 R. T. Denommé French Parnassian Poets iv. 79 De Lisle attempts to reverse the procedure by requesting that his readers adjust their nineteenth-century optic to the superior cultural values of the Ancients.
1990 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 35 79 The optic of a lot of modern sociologists is reversed here.
1998 D. Gellner in M. Alfino et al. McDonaldization Revisited Foreword p. xii Ritzer primarily focuses on the phenomenon from the optic of Weber's theory of rationalization.
3. † b. The optic nerve. Obsolete.† c. In plural. Visual power. Obsolete.
a. The eye. Usually in plural. Now humorous.Originally the learned and elegant term.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun]
eyeeOE
the fleshly eyec1175
balla1400
window1481
glazier1567
light1580
crystal1592
orb1594
glass1597
optic1601
twinkler1605
lampa1616
watchera1616
wink-a-peeps1615
visive organa1652
ogle1673
peeper1691
goggle?1705
visual orb1725
orbit1727
winker1734
peep?1738
daylights?1747
eyewinker1808
keeker1808
glimmer1814
blinker1816
glim1820
goggler1821
skylight1824
ocular1825
mince pie1857
saucer1858
mince1937
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love i. iii. sig. C One..whose Optiques haue drunke the spirit of beauty, in some eight score and eighteene Princes Courts.
1625 R. Brathwait Ess. Five Senses (ed. 2) Table sig. A6 By that Elevating muscle, by which it is distinguished from the Optick in all other Creatures, it [sc. the eye] is taught to bee on that Object onely fixed, where it may be wholly and solely satisfied.
1650 J. Howell Instr. Forren Travell (new ed.) App. 140 Not by hear-say only, or through the mist of other mens breaths, but through the cleere casements of his own optiques.
1668 J. Denham Poems 82 Our corporeal eyes, (we find) Dazle the Opticks of our Mind.
1708 J. Swift Elegy on Mr Patrige (single sheet) Patrige made his Opticks rise, From a Shoe Sole to reach the Skies.
1744 R. North & M. North Life Sir D. North & Rev. J. North 240 He surveyed it with all his Optics.
1775 J. Trumbull MʽFingal 3 But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what is not to be seen.
1818 Q. Rev. 18 133 An advantage..which has escaped the optics of former writers.
1850 N. Hawthorne Scarlet Let. ii. 69 Yet those same bleared optics had a strange, penetrating power.
1910 ‘O. Henry’ Strictly Business 240 Spring winked a vitreous optic at Editor Westbrook of the Minerva Magazine.
1958 T. H. White Once & Future King ii. ix. 279 And yours truly will continuously wink one optic or the other.
1993 E. Mildmay Lucker & Tiffany peel Out (BNC) 62 Talking of eyes, my optics are almost burnt through.
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the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > pairs of cranial nerves > specific cranial nerves
optic sinew?c1425
recurrent nerve1578
optic1615
optic nerve1615
recurrent1615
par vagum1666
fourth nerve1681
accessory nerve1682
chorda tympani1807
abducens1809
hypoglossus1811
pneumogastric1826
pneumogastric nerve1827
hypoglossal nerve1828
facial1834
fifth nerve1836–9
vagus1840
vagal nerve1854
vagus nerve1856
Jacobson's nerve1860
oculomotor1868
trigeminus1875
hypoglossal1876
oculimotor1890
pathetic1890
sixth1899
trigeminal1899
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 485 The first coniugation therefore of the nerues of the braine are the Opticks.
1657 W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility v. 97 The Optic, or the middle of the Retina.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [noun]
i-sightc888
seneOE
lightOE
eyesightc1175
sightc1200
rewarda1382
seeingc1390
viewc1390
outwitc1400
starec1400
speculation1471
eyec1475
vision1493
ray1531
visive power1543
sightfulnessa1586
outsight1605
conspectuitya1616
visibility1616
optics1643
rock of eye1890
visuality1923
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) i. §44 Nor is it in the Opticks of these eyes to behold felicity. View more context for this quotation
1709 J. Reynolds Death's Vision vi. 15 Will He come Teach an Unfledg'd Soul to Fly, To see, without the Optics of an Eye?
1721 T. D'Urfey Grecian Heroine v. i, in New Opera's 142 On this with covetous Eyes I us'd to gaze, 'till I even crackt their Opticks.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > one skilled in optics > [noun]
optic1613
optist1640
optician1672
opticist1884
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [noun] > clear- or sharp-sightedness > person or type
lynx1340
optic1613
oculist1652
1613 R. Anton Moriomachia 23 Beleeue not the Glasse, (quoth the Page) for the knauish Opticke made it to reflect many faire figures on fowle faces.
1636 D. Featley Clavis Mystica xxxi. 410 Artificiall pictures drawne by the pencill of a skilful Opticke.
1676 Philos. Trans. 1675 (Royal Soc.) 10 501 Mr. Newton had no reason to tax P. Pardies of Hallucination... For that learned optike very well saw [etc.].
5. A device attached to the neck of a bottle for delivering a measured quantity of spirits or other drinks, usually with the bottle fixed in an inverted position. Also optic measure.A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
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the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [noun] > serving liquor > utensils for > specific for measuring amount
optic1926
1926 Trade Marks Jrnl. 22 Sept. 2158 Optic, an apparatus included in Class 8, for delivering a measured quantity of Spirits or other Liquids.
1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 27/2 Optic, a measuring and dispensing device widely used for spirits. It is usually inserted into the neck of an inverted bottle.
1968 ‘A. Haig’ Sign on for Tokyo 58 Joe could see his face reflected in the glass behind the bar, between the spirits bottles on their optic measures.
1970 V. Canning Great Affair xii. 215 A row of shining optics under the whisky and gin bottles.
1997 A. Wood EastEnders (BBC TV script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 561. 41 (stage direct.) Cut to Phil behind the bar picking up a glass and turning to the vodka optic.
Compounds
optic angle n. †(a) the angle formed at the eye by the extremities of an object viewed; the visual angle (obsolete); (b) the angle between the optic axes of the eyes when directed to the same object; (c) the angle between the optic axes of a biaxial doubly refracting crystal.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [noun] > visual angle
optic angle1709
visual angle1710
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §15. 8 Tho' we should grant the real Existence of those Optic Angles.
?1790 J. Imison School of Arts (ed. 2) 210 Easy to apprehend, by any person who understands the nature of the optic angle.
1881 Science 24 Dec. 611/2 For distances of more than 240 m. the optic angle becomes inappreciable.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Optic Optic angle,..(c) The angle between the optic axes in a biaxial crystal.
1922 N. H. Winchell & A. N. Winchell Elem. Optical Mineral. (ed. 2) I. xvi. 159 The acute angle between the optic axes is called the optic angle.
1970 Science 30 Jan. 666/3 Optic-angle-measurements suggest that the disorientations generally are not related to changes in chemical composition.
optic axis n. (a) = optical axis n. (a) at optical adj. and n. Compounds; (b) Crystallography and Mineralogy the direction in which the ordinary and the extraordinary rays passing through a doubly refracting crystal behave alike, so that there is no double refraction.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments to refract, etc., light > [noun] > optic axis
optic axis1664
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > axis
optical axis1663
optic axis1664
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 80 Take a fresh Eye..cut it with a plain Parallel to the Optick Axis.
1723 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. I. i. xxxi. 247 We turn our Eyes to it in such a manner, that the two Optick Axes meet at the Point which we fix our Attention principally upon.
1825 Lancet 12 Nov. 246/2 The optic, or visual axis, is a straight line drawn through the centre of the cornea, pupil, lens, and vitreous humour.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xii. 258 The angle between the optic axes in some crystals is so small as to permit of seeing them readily.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 195/1 A Lyot element is field widened by dividing the crystal in half in the optic axis direction.
optic chiasm n. Anatomy = optic chiasma n.
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1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 176/2 Chiasmus, the crucial union of parts,—as the optic commissure or chiasm.
1921 F. Tilney & H. A. Riley Form & Functions Central Nerv. Syst. xxxi. 550 Situated above the optic chiasm and in communication with the chamber of the third ventricle is a small canal.
1996 Science 8 Nov. 972 (caption) Diagram of the whole-brain preparation showing the stimulating electrode..in the optic chiasm.
optic chiasma n. Anatomy the X-shaped structure formed at the point below the brain where the two optic nerves cross each other.
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the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > commissure
commissure1695
corpus callosum1706
optic commissure1848
optic chiasma1856
supracommissure1886
1856–7 Proc. Royal Soc. 8 9 To throw light on the relations of the fibres of the [optic] nerve to those of the opposite one in the optic chiasma or commissure.
1932 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 110 129 Electrical stimulation of the brain in the region of the optic chiasma.
1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons Vertebr. Body (ed. 6) xv. 515 Reaching the floor of the forebrain, the optic nerve fibers enter via the X-shaped optic chiasma.
optic commissure n. Anatomy = optic chiasma n.
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the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > commissure
commissure1695
corpus callosum1706
optic commissure1848
optic chiasma1856
supracommissure1886
1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 176/2 Chiasmus, the crucial union of parts,—as the optic commissure or chiasm.
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. ix. 387 This decussation of fibres is called the optic commissure or chiasma.
1983 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 301 36 The optic commissure is a thin bundle of fibres.
optic cup n. (a) Embryology a cuplike depression in the front of the optic vesicle of an embryo that later forms the retina; (b) Anatomy the depression at the centre of the optic disc.
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1882 Proc. Royal Soc. 1881–2 33 114 The main subject dealt with is the nature of the mesoblastic structures entering the cavity of the optic cup, through the choroid slit.
1926 Sci. Monthly Apr. 320/2 One of the early symptoms of increased intracranial pressure was a change in the characteristic appearance of the optic cup.
1974 D. Webster & M. Webster Compar. Vertebr. Morphol. x. 208 During the development of the optic cup the overlying surface ectoderm thickens, forming a lens placode.
optic disc n. Anatomy a slightly raised pinkish white disc on the retina at the point of entry of the optic nerve, lacking visual receptors and so forming a blind spot.
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1858 J. Hogg Ophthalmoscope (ed. 2) 43 The turbidity clears up gradually, and in from two to six weeks we begin to see the optic disc as through a fog.
1934 Science 14 Dec. 547/2 An elimination of the BMn-chromosome from a cell at a suitable time and place in the optic disk of the larva results in a female fly with a mosaic eye.
1995 Sci. News 25 Feb. 116/1 The disorder..is characterized by sudden loss of vision due to a painless swelling of the optic disc.
optic fibre n. = optical fibre n. at optical adj. and n. Compounds.
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1972 Abstr. 1972 Ann. Meeting Optical Soc. Amer. 75 The amount of light returned to a photosensor was dependent upon the diaphragm shape and relative position from the optic fiber bundle.
1992 Apollo June 395/1 The exhibition is very sensitively lit and a novel feature is the illumination of the small reliefs with optic-fibre lighting.
optic foramen n. Anatomy either of a pair of openings in the sphenoid bone through which the optic nerves and ophthalmic arteries pass.
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1828 J. Quain Elements Anat. ii. 112 Round the optic foramen on each side are attached the four recti.
1904 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 196 275 In front of the enlarged optic foramen no constant vacuity is met with in the side walls of the skull.
1962 Gray's Anat. (ed. 33) 294 At the posterior end of the junction of the roof with the medial wall the optic canal (optic foramen) establishes communication between the orbit and the middle cranial fossa.
optic ganglion n. Anatomy and Zoology any of various bodies of nervous tissue associated with the eye or the optic nerve; (formerly) spec. †a quadrigeminal body (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1834 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 124 409 The anterior or cerebral portion of the nervous system [in the centipede] is formed originally by the coalescence of at least two pairs of ganglia, the antennal and optic ganglia.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. (ed. 2) iii. 230 The vesicular matter of the retina is an offshoot..from that of the optic ganglion.
1921 Science 13 May 462/2 It is probable that the optic ganglion is normally developed in the eyeless individual [sc. a cave-dwelling cladoceran].
1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) xi. 351/2 The nerve impulses are processed in a complex optic ganglion deep below the ommatidia [sc. in modern arthropods].
optic groove n. Anatomy a groove on the upper surface of the sphenoid bone in which the optic chiasma lies.
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1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 606/1 Optic groove.
1945 Amer. Midland Naturalist 33 276 In Marmota..the optic groove is quadrate in outline.
optic lobe n. Anatomy and Zoology any of various lobes of the brain associated with the optic nerve or with vision; (formerly) spec. †a quadrigeminal body (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1826 Lancet 13 May 209/1 The complete cerebro-spinal system of mammalia, consists..3d, the optic lobes, or quadrigemina.
1912 Science 26 July 122/1 The neural surface of all this portion of the brain, including..the optic lobes and the cerebellum, being derived from the procephalic neuromeres.
1993 Nature 8 Apr. 494/2 The discovery of a new class of neuron in the optic lobe of the dragonfly.
optic neuritis n. Medicine inflammation of an optic nerve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > other disorders of eye
holks1513
red heat1527
hypopyon1706
photophobia1772
buphthalmos1821
ophthalmoplegia1835
periorbitis1839
ophthalmoplegy1848
pinguecule1858
choked disc1870
optic neuritis1873
cyclitis1879
papillitis1879
Leber's disease1890
ophthalmopathy1897
papilloedema1908
sanpaku1963
1873 H. C. Angell Treat. Dis. Eye 29 An optic neuritis is connected with meningitis of the base of the brain.
1993 Sci. News 11 Dec. 390/2 One of these neurological problems, optic neuritis, leads to sudden temporary loss or impairment of vision.
optic papilla n. Anatomy = optic disc n.
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1867 J. King Causes Chronic Dis. 1484 If the ophthalmoscope be used, we will observe..a well-marked excavation of the optic papilla.
1974 V. B. Mountcastle et al. Med. Physiol. (ed. 13) I. xvi. 497/2 The axons of the retinal ganglion cells..converge at the optic papilla into a bundle of fibers named the optic nerve.
optic peduncle n. (a) Zoology the eyestalk of a crustacean; (b) Embryology = optic stalk n.
ΚΠ
1866–7 Proc. Royal Soc. 15 260 From each side of the cephalic masses springs a thick optic peduncle which ends in the optic lobe.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Optic Optic peduncle, in crustaceans, an eye-stalk or ophthalmite.
1977 Q. Rev. Biol. 52 356/2 The optic cup and optic peduncle of the embryo.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > [noun] > rays or waves > set of
pencil1665
optic pencil1704
cone of rays1706
sheaf1863
wave group1923
1704 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World II. vii. 360 Called the optick pencil, as being the instrument whereby the pictures or images of things are delineated to the eye.
1815 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 105 297 The hole through which they pass in coming to the eye should be much larger than the diameter of the optic pencils, and considerably nearer the glass than their focus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > pairs of cranial nerves > specific cranial nerves
optic sinew?c1425
recurrent nerve1578
optic1615
optic nerve1615
recurrent1615
par vagum1666
fourth nerve1681
accessory nerve1682
chorda tympani1807
abducens1809
hypoglossus1811
pneumogastric1826
pneumogastric nerve1827
hypoglossal nerve1828
facial1834
fifth nerve1836–9
vagus1840
vagal nerve1854
vagus nerve1856
Jacobson's nerve1860
oculomotor1868
trigeminus1875
hypoglossal1876
oculimotor1890
pathetic1890
sixth1899
trigeminal1899
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 41 Out of þe formest partie of þe brayn comeþ tweye hologh senewes þat ben I-clepid optici [L. obtici].]
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 43 The þridde tunycle spryngeþ of þe synowe optike [?a1425 N.Y. Acad. Med. optico].
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Eiij Wherfore are the synewes obtykes perced? Answere. For to be the waye of the spyryte vysyble.
1658 N. Billingsley Infancy of World §8 45 The Optick sinews, or the Optick strings, Draw in the sight of sublunary things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > surveying instruments > for laying off lines at right angles
optic square1809
optical square1853
1809 Farmer's Mag. 10 489 By means of the optic square..a right-lined figure of any size can be measured with the utmost accuracy.
optic stalk n. (a) Embryology the stalk connecting the optic vesicle with the forebrain, from which the optic tract develops; (b) Zoology the ommatophore of a snail; (c) Zoology the eyestalk of a crustacean.
ΚΠ
1886 Proc. Royal Soc. 40 563 The stage passed through when the at first round cellular elements of the optic stalk are lengthening out.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Optic Optic stalk, an ommatophore.
1967 Arch. Neurol. (Chicago) 16 210/2 The axons of each lateral half of the cyclopian eye tended to..take their customary pathway, in spite of the malformed optic stalk and diencephalon.
1992 Nature 5 Nov. 88/2 At 14h of development, additional pax[b] expression is detected in the optic stalk.
optic tectum n. Anatomy and Zoology the part of the tectum mesencephali concerned with the functioning of the visual system.
ΚΠ
1896 Science 28 Feb. 330/1 In fishes..he has..demonstrated an indirect connection between the optic tectum and the axial lobe.
1926 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. 40 217 The optic tectum far surpasses the cortical areas of the reptilian hemispheres.
1997 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 264 1724/1 The juncture between the diencephalon and optic tectum.
optic thalamus n. Anatomy and Zoology either of the two lateral geniculate bodies which link the optic tracts with the cortex and midbrain.
ΚΠ
1825 Lancet 12 Nov. 269/1 Mr. Key..has discovered in each an unnatural appearance of the optic thalami.
1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain (London ed.) I. v. 357 What of the optic thalamus and the grey inlay of the pons Varolii?
1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) xvii. 251 In a dorsal view the diencephalon or optic thalamus is represented only by the pineal body.
optic tract n. Anatomy the part of either optic nerve pathway between the optic chiasma and the brain.
ΚΠ
1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 606/1 Optic nerve, Immediately after their origin the optic tracts proceed forwards.
1925 Science 18 Sept. 256/1 The action of organic arsenicals upon the optic tract.
1989 C. R. Legg Issues in Psychobiol. (BNC) 59 The optic tract projects to a number of anatomically distinct regions in the brainstem.
optic tube n. now historical or archaic a telescope; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1651 W. Davenant Gondibert v. ii. 16 Others with Optick Tubes the Moons scant face..Attract through Glasses.
a1781 R. Jago Edge-hill i, in Poems (1784) 33 Her piercing eye extends beyond the reach Of optic tube, levell'd by midnight sage, At the moon's disk.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time II. vi. 38 Survey With optic tubes, the systems circling round.
1930 H. T. Stetson Man & Stars vi. 55 The elders of that day refused to look through Galileo's optic tube to see the moons of Jupiter.
1962 B. Blackstone Lost Travellers 82 Armed with the optic tube of ‘indigence’, the purified senses behold concrete existence.
optic tubercle n. Anatomy and Zoology each of the four optic lobes of a mammal.
ΚΠ
1861 J. C. Dalton Treat. Human Physiol. 420 The optic nerves cross each other..; that from the right optic tubercle passing to the left eye, and that from the left optic tubercle passing to the right eye.
1982 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 298 310 Fibres from the two lobes run to..the anterior optic tubercle.
optic vesicle n. Embryology either of a pair of vesicles connected with the forebrain of an embryo, from which the optic nerve and retina are developed.
ΚΠ
1850 H. Gray in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 140 190 From the most anterior one there arose a protrusion on each side, having a somewhat dilated extremity: this protrusion I will call the optic vesicle.
1929 S. Duke-Elder Recent Adv. in Ophthalmol. (ed. 2) iii. 104 As the primary optic vesicle invaginates, two layers are formed.
1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) xvii. 953 (caption) The outer part of the optic vesicle invaginates, reducing the vesicle lumen to an interface between two layers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.?a1425