prism

[priz-uhm]
noun
1.
Optics. a transparent solid body, often having triangular bases, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light.
2.
Geometry. a solid having bases or ends that are parallel, congruent polygons and sides that are parallelograms.
3.
Crystallography. a form having faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axes.
Origin:
1560–70; < Late Latin prīsma < Greek prîsma literally, something sawed, akin to prī́zein to saw, prīstēs sawyer

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Collins
World English Dictionary
prism (ˈprɪzəm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a transparent polygonal solid, often having triangular ends and rectangular sides, for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting and deviating light. They are used in spectroscopes, binoculars, periscopes, etc
2.  a form of crystal with faces parallel to the vertical axis
3.  maths a polyhedron having parallel, polygonal, and congruent bases and sides that are parallelograms
 
[C16: from Medieval Latin prisma, from Greek: something shaped by sawing, from prizein to saw]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Prism is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

prism
1570, a type of solid figure, from L.L. prisma (Martianus Capella), from Gk. prisma (Euclid), lit. "something sawed," from prizein "to saw." Meaning in optics is first attested 1612.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

prism (prĭz'əm)
n.

  1. A solid figure whose bases or ends have the same size and shape and are parallel to one another, and each of whose sides is a parallelogram.

  2. A transparent body of this form, often of glass and usually with triangular ends, used for separating white light passed through it into a spectrum or for reflecting beams of light.

  3. Such a body used in testing or correcting imbalance of the extrinsic ocular muscles.

pris·mat'ic (-māt'ĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
prism   (prĭz'əm)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A geometric solid whose bases are congruent polygons lying in parallel planes and whose sides are parallelograms.

  2. A solid of this type, often made of glass with triangular ends, used to disperse light and break it up into a spectrum.

  3. A crystal form having 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axis.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
prism [(priz-uhm)]

A solid figure in geometry with bases or ends of the same size and shape and sides that have parallel edges. Also, an object that has this shape.

Note: A prism of glass (or a similar transparent material) can be used to bend different wavelengths of light by different amounts through refraction. This bending separates a beam of white light into a spectrum of colored light.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

PRISM definition


A distributed logic language.
["PRISM: A Parallel Inference System for Problem Solving", S. Kasif et al, Proc 1983 Logic Prog Workshop, pp. 123-152].

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Example sentences
But the researchers found that a prism with three faces spins even faster when
  dropped.
Their experience in the admissions process provides yet another prism through
  which to view the affirmative action debate.
Unfortunately libs and dems only see things through the limited prism of equal
  outcomes.
Many of them view politics through a military prism.
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