biprism

[bahy-priz-uhm]

bi·prism

[bahy-priz-uhm]
noun Optics.
a triangular prism with an apex angle slightly less than 180°: when illuminated by a point source of light it produces two overlapping beams that form an interference pattern on a screen.
Also called Fresnel biprism.


Origin:
1880–85; bi-1 + prism
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Biprism is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
biprism (ˈbaɪˌprɪzəm)
 
n
a prism having a highly obtuse angle to facilitate beam splitting

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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