Etymologically
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perspective

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pəˈspek.tɪv/, US /pɚˈspek.tɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English perspectif,[2][3] from Old French perspective and directly from Medieval Latin perspectīva (“(the art) of sight, optics”),[2][4][5][6] feminine of perspectīvus “of sight, optical”,[2][4] from perspect-, past participle stem of Latin perspicere “to look through, look closely at”,[2][4][6] from per “through” and specere “to look at”,[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[2] The artist's sense was influenced by Italian prospettiva, from prospetto “view”, from Latin prospectus, the source of prospect.[4][2][3] It is related to spy and perspicacious.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of optics: about 1380 in the OED,[8] before 1387 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon,[4] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

An optical instrument such as a spyglass is from about 1386;[8] before telescope and microscope came into use, a perspective or perspective glass did their work.[9][8] The art of drawing solid objects on a flat surface so as to give an appearance of depth and distance is from 1598,[8][4] by the 1590s in Etymonline.[2] The figurative sense, a view in which the parts of a subject stand in the right relation to one another, is from 1605, in Bacon.[4][8] A mental view or outlook is from 1762, in Goldsmith,[4][2] and a point of view from 1907, in The Education of Henry Adams.[4] According to Trench, the present use hardly dates back farther than Dryden.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – optics.[8]
  • c. 1386 – an optical instrument.[8]
  • 1598 – perspective drawing.[8][4]
  • 1605 – a proper proportion.[4][8]
  • 1762 – a mental outlook.[4][2]
  • 1907 – a point of view.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The technique of representing three-dimensional objects and depth on a flat surface.
  2. A particular point of view or attitude.
  3. The ability to judge things in their true relation or importance: keep things in perspective.
  4. A view or vista.

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or drawn in perspective.

Word family

  • perspectival
  • perspectively
  • perspectived
  • perspectiveless
  • perspectivism
  • aerial perspective
  • two-point perspective
  • perspicacious
  • perspicacity
  • perspicuity
  • perspicuous
  • prospect
  • spy
  • inspect
  • spectacle

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker