prismaticadj.n.
/prɪzˈmatɪk/, U.S. /prɪzˈmædɪk/ A. adj.† 3. Crystallography. = orthorhombic adj. Obsolete.
1.
a. Having the form of a prism; consisting of prisms; of or relating to a prism.
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the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [adjective] > prismatic
prismatical1611
prismatic1668
diamond-cut1703
prismated1816
prismatoidal1821
prismoidal1826
prismoid1840
prismate1858
the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal habit > [adjective] > prismatic
prismatic1812
1668 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 3 643 Then is the Wedge contain'd between both these Plains..equal to ⅓ of that Cylindrick or Prismatick Figure, whose Altitude is equal to the perpendicular V P.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 19 False Eloquence, like the Prismatic Glass, Its gawdy Colours spreads on ev'ry place.
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 73 Certain saline solutions likewise that shoot into prismatic crystals.
1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 146 The truly prismatic basalt is confined to narrow limits.
1968 J. Bouillon in M. Florkin & B. T. Scheer Chem. Zool. II. ii. i. 119 Elongated prismatic and flagellate cells.
1999 I. Kostov & R. I. Kostov Crystal Habits Minerals vii. 347 Long prismatic crystals.
b. Anatomy. Elongated, straight, and angular (esp. hexagonal) in cross-section; spec. designating striated muscle fibres.
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1683 W. Charleton Three Anat. Lect. ii. 39 The flesh of the heart is firm, hard, uniform, of a deep ruddy colour; nor are the prismatic columns separated from the little membranes and innumerable Tendinose Fibres, as the Fibres of the other Muscles are.
1713 W. Cheselden Anat. Humane Body i. p. xx Nerves, are Cylindrical, or Prismatic Bodies, of streight Fibres.
1873 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 163 441 Engelmann assumes the muscular substance to be wholly composed of closely compressed, elongate, prismatic elements extending the whole length of the fibre.
2001 Jrnl. Biomechanics 34 1607 Muscle contraction... The prismatic body of hexagonal cross-section is assumed [etc.].
2.
a. Of, relating to, or employing an optical prism; formed, separated, or distributed by or as by a transparent prism.Earliest in prismatic colour n. at Compounds.
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the world > matter > colour > variegation > [adjective] > brightly
paintedc1400
prismatic1677
prismed1764
prismic1790
prismal1850
jazzy1917
psychedelic1965
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments to refract, etc., light > [adjective] > prism
prismatic1677
prismic1790
prismal1850
1677 T. Sherley tr. J. S. Elsholtz Curious Distillatory ii. 5 A Specimen, or example of these is afforded by the Rainbow, a Prismatick or Triangular Glass [L. Prisma vitreum], the redness of Wine spilt upon a Napkin.
1728 Philos. Trans. 1726–7 (Royal Soc.) 34 135 The Prismatick Colours, wherever they appear'd seem to have been caus'd by the Sun.
1770 J. Priestley Let. 26 Oct. in W. B. Willcox Papers of Benjamin Franklin (1973) XVII. 262 I observe them [sc. colours] to be disposed in prismatic order.
1788 V. Knox Winter Evenings I. iii. 27 All the hues of the prismatic spectrum.
1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 429 The light of this Nebula..had yet been subjected to prismatic analysis.
1931 Movie Makers Feb. 103/2 (advt.) A prismatic critical focusing device by means of which every lens may be set precisely for any distance.
1960 J. Glendinning Princ. & Use Surveying Instruments (ed. 2) ii. xiii. 278 The prismatic astrolabe is designed specially for the determination of latitude and longitude.
b. Brightly coloured, colourful; brilliant. Also figurative.
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1820 W. Hazlitt Lect. Dramatic Lit. 308 [Jeremy Taylor's] style is prismatic. It unfolds the colours of the rainbow.
1856 C. Sangster St. Lawrence & Saguenay 13 The pure prismatic globule that upwells From the blue deep.
1874 Ladies' Repository Apr. 302/1 Through the perpetual twilight, tall columnar trunks..grew from a floor checkered with prismatic lights and sepulchral shadows.
1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea vi. 76 He was being fitted with a prismatic suit of khaki shot with veins of red silk,..he did not object to looking..like a faded dragon-fly.
1994 D. Rushkoff Cyberia iv. xiv. 173 Burroughs' famed ‘prismatic’ style of writing..reads more like jazz than the narrative works of his contemporaries.
1998 G. Cox Assignment: Eternity iv. 48 Colors of unimaginable intensity burst upon the viewer in prismatic explosions of light.
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the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal systems > [adjective] > orthorhombic
rhombic1671
rhomboid1671
rhomboidal1700
rectangular1837
trimetric1837
orthorhombic1854
prismatic1858
1858 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 1016/2 Prismatic system, that derived from the great number and variety of the prisms it contains.
1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 5) Introd. 25 Orthorhombic system. (Also called Rectangular, Prismatic, Trimetric.)
1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 37 There may be three planes of symmetry at right angles. Such crystals..belong to the Prismatic..System.
4. Engineering. Of a joint: having one translational degree of freedom only; that slides without rotating. Contrasted with revolute adj. 3.
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1925 Brit. Patent 231,182 1/2 Two hollow shafts arranged in the same planes as the axes of the cylinders and connected by means of prismatic joints.
1981 R. P. Paul Robot Manipulators iii. 53 The z axis of the prismatic link is aligned with the axis of joint n + 1.
1987 B. Leatham-Jones Elements Industr. Robotics ii. 35 The linear movement of a prismatic joint can easily be accomplished by a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.
2008 J. Angeles & F. C. Park in B. Siciliano & O. Khatib Springer Handbk. Robotics x. 231/2 If the first joint is prismatic, the workspace has an extrusion symmetry, with the direction of extrusion given by the direction of motion of this joint.
Military. = prismatic powder n. at Compounds. Obsolete. rare.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > in specific form or state
corn-powder1562
train1587
meal-powder1782
green charge1825
gunpowder cake1839
mill-cake1839
presscake1839
pellet powder1868
prismatic powder1869
pebble powder1870
pebble1872
prismatic1894
1894 Nature 26 July 310/2 The erosive effect of cordite..is very slightly greater than that of brown prismatic, but very much higher effects can, if it be so desired, be obtained with cordite.
Compounds
prismatic binoculars n. (in singular and plural) = prism binocular n. at prism n. Compounds 2.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > binoculars or field-glasses
prospective glass1616
spectacle telescope1728
field glass1782
race-glass1843
racing glass1854
bird glasses1900
prism binocular1901
prismatic binoculars1905
1905 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 167 409 The familiar prismatic binoculars are best adapted to this purpose.
1963 Times 4 Feb. 1/3 (advt.) The brand-new Dollond 8×30 all-purpose prismatic binocular is the lowest-priced British made 8×30 glass to be offered in the postwar years.
1997 I. Ridpath Dict. Astron. 371 A pair of such prisms are used in prismatic binoculars to both invert the image and fold the light path, making the binoculars compact.
prismatic-cellular adj. chiefly Biology consisting of prismatic cells.
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1843 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1837–43 4 435 Shells having a prismatic cellular structure.
1942 Jrnl. Paleontol. 16 391/1 Radial ribs..completely concealed by an outer layer of prismatic cellular calcium carbonate.
1995 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 450 144 A prismatic cellular tie, beam, column or plate with a value of ξ = 2 weighs less by this factor, than a solid one of the same stiffness or strength.
prismatic coefficient n. Shipbuilding the ratio of a vessel's underwater volume to the volume of a cuboid having the same length as the vessel and the same cross-section as its maximum underwater cross-section.
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1899 E. L. Attwood Text.-bk. Theoret. Naval Archit. i. 30 A vessel is 300 feet long, 2100 tons displacement... What is her prismatic coefficient of fineness?
1909 G. Nicol Ship Constr. & Calculations 303 This coefficient..would show the one of fine midship section and full ends to be of poor design, the prismatic co-efficient being relatively higher than in the other vessel.
1994 Cruising World (Nexis) Nov. 41 Uri's Disp/Length is 372, in the normal range of heavy-displacement hulls, and her Prismatic Coefficient is an above-midrange .567.
prismatic colour n. each of the colours into which white light is split by a prism (conventionally regarded as seven in number); colour such as that produced by a prism from white light; frequently in plural.
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the world > matter > colour > [noun] > spectrum > seven colours of
prism1669
prismatic colour1728
1728Prismatick Colours [see sense A. 2a].
1849 D. P. Thomson Introd. Meteorol. 227 In coronæ the blue prismatic colour is nearer the centre than the red.
1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 1627/1 The lines..come and go with shimmering prismatic colours.
1993 E. A. Proulx Shipping News v. 40 An arc showed in the fog, beyond it a second arc of faint prismatic color.
2004 Sunday Times (Nexis) 14 Mar. (Features section) 8 As for those startling prismatic colours, Hunt had a chemist's passion for finding the raciest new pigments.
prismatic compass n. a magnetic compass incorporating a prism so that an object and its bearing can be viewed simultaneously.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > surveying instruments > for taking bearings
prismatic compass1842
plain-compass1868
1842 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 12 176 On leaving Cumaka I had only provided myself with a chronometer, a sextant, an artificial horizon, and prismatic compass.
1993 ‘A. McNab’ Bravo Two Zero (1994) iii. 57 The main elements in our belt kit would be..shell dressings, a knife, and a prismatic compass.
prismatic layer n. Conchology (in a mollusc shell) a layer consisting of vertical columnar crystals of calcite or aragonite, lying below the periostracum and above the lamellate layer.
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1833 J. E. Gray in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 123 795 In the upper valve of Ostrea cornucopiæ, I have observed the thick inner layer to be rather prismatic, and the outer part of the laminæ to be separated by layers of periostracum.]
1871 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1869–70 11 188 The distinct natures of the lamellar and prismatic layers have been evidently well understood by the artificer, who has ground away the latter in order to put a sharp edge on the former at one end.
1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs iii. 49 The mantle edge consists of three lobes... The outer lobe (I) secretes the outer calcareous (prismatic) layer of the shell.
1991 R. Goldring Fossils in Field iv. 80 Compaction will have generally closed the chalk about the prismatic layer so that all trace of internal marking and muscle impressions is lost.
prismatic powder n. Military (now historical) gunpowder compressed into hexagonal prisms with holes drilled along the length to ensure slow burning, formerly used in heavy artillery.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > in specific form or state
corn-powder1562
train1587
meal-powder1782
green charge1825
gunpowder cake1839
mill-cake1839
presscake1839
pellet powder1868
prismatic powder1869
pebble powder1870
pebble1872
prismatic1894
1869 Times 15 Jan. 10/3 The introduction of prismatic powder has been Russia's real contribution to the advancement of military science.
1880 Times 27 Dec. 9/2 Prismatic powder was exclusively used during the gunnery trials on board.
1935 Frederick (Maryland) Post 30 Apr. 8/7 He developed prismatic powder, used by the United States Government in its large calibre cannon.
1996 P. Everson & W. Cocroft in B. J. Buchanan Gunpowder xxiii. 389 Problems of control of combustion..led..to experimentation with..prismatic powders.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1668