aspect English · revision 5390

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1386|origins=la aspicere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæs.pekt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|aspectus|t=a seeing, look, appearance]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from the past participle of [[m|la|aspicere|t=to look at]], from [[m|la|ad-|t=to, at]] and [[m|la|specere|t=to look]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*spek-|t=to observe]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[spy]], [[auspicious]], [[despise]] and [[species]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In astrology, the relative positions of the planets as seen from the earth, that is, how they look at one another: about 1386 in the OED, about 1385 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it also meant the action of looking, gazing (1398), and mental looking or consideration (1393), both now obsolete.^(OED 1989) The look a person wears and the appearance of things are by the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) The modern senses grew from the idea of the relation between the viewer and what is viewed.^(Cresswell 2021) A facing in a given direction, as of a house, is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and one side of a matter, a way of seeing it, goes back to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – in astrology.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – the act of looking.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – appearance.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1667 – a facing direction.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A particular part or feature of something: ''every aspect of the problem''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A way in which something can be viewed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The appearance of something, or a person's expression.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The direction a building or slope faces: ''a southern aspect''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The form of a verb that shows whether an action is complete, continuing or repeated.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aspectual]]

+ * [[aspect ratio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spy]]

+ * [[species]]

+ * [[spectacle]]

+ * [[inspect]]

+ * [[respect]]

+ * [[auspicious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}