a device composed of two prisms of Iceland spar or calcite cut at specified angles and cemented together with Canada balsam. It is used for producing plane-polarized light
Word origin
C19: named after William Nicol (?1768–1851), Scottish physicist, its inventor
Nicol prism in American English
(ˈnɪkəl)
noun
a prism consisting of two crystals of clear calcite cemented together, used for obtaining polarized light
Word origin
after Wm. Nicol (1768?-1851), Brit physicist, who invented it (1828)