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spectacle - 4 dictionary results
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spec⋅ta⋅cle
[spek-tuh-kuh
l] 
–noun
—Idiom| 1. | anything presented to the sight or view, esp. something of a striking or impressive kind: The stars make a fine spectacle tonight. |
| 2. | a public show or display, esp. on a large scale: The coronation was a lavish spectacle. |
| 3. | spectacles. eyeglasses, esp. with pieces passing over or around the ears for holding them in place. |
| 4. | Often, spectacles.
|
| 5. | Obsolete. a spyglass. |
| 6. | make a spectacle of oneself, to call attention to one's unseemly behavior; behave foolishly or badly in public: They tell me I made a spectacle of myself at the party last night. |
Origin:
1300–50; ME < L spectāculum a sight, spectacle, deriv. of spectāre, freq. of specere to look, regard. See -cle 2
1300–50; ME < L spectāculum a sight, spectacle, deriv. of spectāre, freq. of specere to look, regard. See -cle 2
Related forms:
spec⋅ta⋅cle⋅less, adjective
spec⋅ta⋅cle⋅like, adjective
Synonyms:
1. marvel, wonder, sight, show.
1. marvel, wonder, sight, show.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To spectacle
| spec·ta·cle (spěk'tə-kəl) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin spectāculum, from spectāre, to watch, frequentative of specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Spectacle
Spec"ta*cle\, n. [F., fr. L. spectaculum, fr. spectare to look at, to behold, v. intens. fr. specere. See Spy.]1. Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkable or noteworthy sight; a show; a pageant; a gazingstock. O, piteous spectacle? O, bloody times! --Shak. 2. A spy-glass; a looking-glass. [Obs.] Poverty a spectacle is, as thinketh me, Through which he may his very friends see. --Chaucer. 3. pl. An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light. 4. pl. Fig.: An aid to the intellectual sight. Shakespeare . . . needed not the spectacles of books to read nature. --Dryden. Syn: Show; sight; exhibition; representation; pageant.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : spectacle
Spanish:
espectáculo,
German:
das Schauspiel,
Japanese:
見もの
spectacle
c.1340, "specially prepared or arranged display," from O.Fr. spectacle, from L. spectaculum "a show, spectacle," from spectare "to view, watch," frequentative form of specere "to look at," from PIE *spek- "to observe" (see scope (1)). Spectacles "glass lenses to help a person's sight" first recorded 1415. Spectacular (adj.) is from 1682; as a noun, first attested 1890.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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