optical

English

Etymology

From optic +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒptɪkəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑptɪkəl/

Adjective

optical (comparative more optical, superlative most optical)

1. Of, or relating to sight; visual.

   Strabismus is an optical defect.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. Designed to assist or enhance sight

   A microscope is an optical instrument.

3. Of, or relating to optics.

   Refraction is an optical effect.

4. Of, or relating to visible light.

   Optical telescopes don't work when it is cloudy.

5. Incorporating light-sensitive devices.

   An optical switch opens the door automatically.

Derived terms

• electrooptical
• extraordinary optical transmission
• fast blue optical transient
• floptical
• floptical disk
• integrated optical circuit
• magnetooptical
• magnetoptical
• nonoptical
• non-optical
• optical activity
• optical art
• optical astronomy
• optical axis
• optical bank
• optical black hole
• optical character recognition
• optical delusion
• optical depth
• optical disc
• optical disc drive
• optical disk
• optical disk drive
• optical double
• optical drive
• optical fiber
• optical fibre
• optical flat
• optical glass
• optical illusion
• optical infinity
• optical isomer
• opticality
• optical levitation
• optically
• optical media
• optical microscope
• optical mouse
• optical power
• optical rotation
• optical rotatory dispersion
• opticals
• optical spectrum
• optical switch
• optical telescope
• optical trackpad
• optical trap
• optical tweezer
• optical tweezers
• optical wand
• quasioptical
• Raman optical activity
• suboptical

 

Translations

relating to sight — see optic

designed to assist or enhance sight

• Bulgarian: оптичен (optičen)
• Catalan: òptic (ca)
• Czech: optický (cs), zrakový (cs)
• Danish: optisk (da)
• Finnish: optinen (fi)
• French: optique (fr)
• Hebrew: אופטי (ópti)
• Kazakh: оптикалық (optikalyq)
• Russian: опти́ческий (ru) (optíčeskij)

relating to optics — see optic

relating to visible light

• Bulgarian: видим (bg) (vidim)
• Catalan: òptic (ca)
• Czech: optický (cs)
• Danish: optisk (da)
• Finnish: optinen (fi)
• French: optique (fr)
• Greek: οπτικός (el) (optikós)
• Hebrew: אופטי (ópti)
• Kazakh: оптикалық (optikalyq)
• Russian: опти́ческий (ru) (optíčeskij)

incorporating light-sensitive devices

• Catalan: òptic (ca)
• Czech: optický (cs)
• Danish: optisk (da)
• Finnish: optinen (fi)
• French: optique (fr)
• Hebrew: אופטי (ópti)
• Russian: опти́ческий (ru) (optíčeskij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} optisch (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} optika
• German: ^{(please verify)} optisch (de)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} optúil
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} оптички m (optički)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 光學 / 光学 (zh) (guāngxué)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} quang học (vi)

Noun

optical (plural opticals)

1. (film) Any special effect requiring laboratory work on the film.
   • 1976 August 14, Gary Jane Hoisington, “Locker Room As The Site Of Religious Ecstasy”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 7, page 9:

     It is a glossy film with gross, opulent opticals and little comic, or any, relief; it has the jaundiced complexion of an early 60s underground film, which it is; it is ponderous, Wagnerian, and feels about five hours long (its running time is about an hour).

   • 2006, David K. Irving, Peter W. Rea, Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video, page 294:

     If you plan to output back to film, opticals and effects can be shot on film or generated by computer and then transferred to film.

Anagrams

• pit coal, pitcoal, coalpit, topical, Policat, capitol, Capitol, coal pit, lipcoat