Etymologically
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spectrum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈspɛktɹəm/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spectrum (“appearance, image, apparition”),[2][3][4] from specere (“to look at”) (see spectre and spy),[2][3][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An apparition or spectre: 1611, in John Speed's History of Great Britain;[2][6] this sense is now obsolete or archaic.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The coloured band formed when a beam of light passes through a prism is first recorded in 1671, in Newton's writings.[2][6] An after-image left on the retina is from 1786.[6] The whole range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation is by 1888,[3][6] and an arrangement of the parts of any phenomenon by degree from 1887.[6] The figurative sense, the entire range of something, as in the political spectrum, is from 1936.[3][6]

Timeline

  • 1611 – an apparition.[2][6]
  • 1671 – the colours of light, in Newton.[2][6]
  • 1786 – an after-image.[6]
  • 1888 – the range of wavelengths.[3][6]
  • 1936 – any full range.[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The band of colours, from red to violet, formed when white light is split by a prism.
  2. The entire range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, or a part of it: the radio spectrum.
  3. A wide range of related qualities, ideas or activities: across the political spectrum.

Word family

  • spectro-
  • broad-spectrum
  • absorption spectrum
  • band spectrum
  • line spectrum
  • mass spectrum
  • emission spectrum
  • spectral
  • spectre
  • spectacle
  • spectator
  • spectroscope
  • spy
  • inspect

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press