OPTIC • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Optic

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/ˈɑptɪk/ Listen

noun

Optic n.

1.

The organ of sight; an eye. "The difference is as great between The optics seeing, as the object seen."

2.

An eyeglass. (Obs.)

adjective

Optical, Optic adj.

1.

Of, pertaining to, or using vision or sight; as, optical illusions.

Synonyms: ocular, optic, visual. "The moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views."

2.

Of or pertaining to the eye; ocular; as, the optic nerves (the first pair of cranial nerves) which are distributed to the retina; the optic (or optical) axis of the eye.

3.

Relating to the science of optics or to devices designed to assist vision; as, optical works; optical equipment.

Optic angle (Opt.), the angle included between the optic axes of the two eyes when directed to the same point; sometimes called binocular parallax.

Optic axis. (Opt.)

(a)

A line drawn through the center of the eye perpendicular to its anterior and posterior surfaces. In a normal eye it is in the direction of the optic axis that objects are most distinctly seen.

(b)

The line in a doubly refracting crystal, in the direction of which no double refraction occurs. A uniaxial crystal has one such line, a biaxial crystal has two.

Optical circle (Opt.), a graduated circle used for the measurement of angles in optical experiments.

Optical square, a surveyor's instrument with reflectors for laying off right angles.

See images of 'Optic'

Etymology of 'Optic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Optic" Quotes from Famous Books

... energies there are that can act upon the nerves. Touch, taste, and smell imply contact, sound has greater range, and sight has the immensity of the universe for its field. The most distant but visible star acts through the optic nerve to present itself to consciousness. It is not the ego that looks out through the eyes, but it is the universe that pours in ...

— The Machinery of the Universe - Mechanical Conceptions of Physical Phenomena • Amos Emerson Dolbear

... enlarged; and this must likewise be the case with the blood-vessels and nerves. On the other hand, when a limb is not used, as by Eastern fanatics, or when the nerve supplying it with nervous power is effectually destroyed, the muscles wither. So again, when the eye is destroyed the optic nerve becomes atrophied, sometimes even in the course of a few months.[734] The Proteus is furnished with branchiae as well as with lungs: and Schreibers[735] found that when the animal was compelled to live in deep water the branchiae were developed to thrice ...

— The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2) • Charles Darwin

... animals is no evidence of the influence of darkness in causing degeneration of the eyes. He refers to experiments by Uhlenhuth, who transplanted eyes of young Salamanders into different parts of their bodies where they were no longer connected with the optic nerves. These eyes underwent a degeneration which was followed by a complete regeneration. He showed that this regeneration took place in complete darkness, and that the transplanted eyes remained normal when the Salamanders were kept in the dark for fifteen months. Hence the ...

— Hormones and Heredity • J. T. Cunningham

... about 20 B. C., wrote an excellent work on medicine, but gives all too little glimpse of anatomy and physiology. Rufus of Ephesus, however, in the next century practised dissection of apes and other animals. He described the decussation of the optic nerves and the capsule of the crystalline lens, and gave the first clear description that has survived of the structure of the eye. He regarded the nerves as originating from the brain, and distinguished between nerves of motion and of sensation. He ...

— The Legacy of Greece • Various

... for re-election, therefore, wakened on election morning with the damaged optic swollen shut and sadly discolored. Realizing that this unfortunate condition would not win votes, Mr. Hopkins remained at home all day and nagged his long-suffering spouse, whose tongue ...

— Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work • Edith Van Dyne

Copyright © 2025 Diccionario ingles.com