aspect

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈæspɛkt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Hyphenation: as‧pect

Noun

aspect (plural aspects)

  1. Any specific feature, part, or element of something.
  2. The way something appears when viewed from a certain direction or perspective.
  3. The way something appears when considered from a certain point of view.
  4. A phase or a partial, but significant view or description of something.
  5. One's appearance or expression. [from 16th c.]
  6. Position or situation with regard to seeing; that position which enables one to look in a particular direction; position in relation to the points of the compass.
    The house has a southern aspect, i.e. a position which faces the south.
  7. Prospect; outlook.
    • 1643, John Evelyn, Diary
      This town affords a good aspect toward the hill from whence we descended ; nor does it deceive us ; for it is handsomely built ...
  8. (grammar) A grammatical quality of a verb which determines the relationship of the speaker to the internal temporal flow of the event which the verb describes, or whether the speaker views the event from outside as a whole, or from within as it is unfolding. [from 19th c.]
  9. (astrology) The relative position of heavenly bodies as they appear to an observer on earth; the angular relationship between points in a horoscope. [from 14th c.]
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book X, lines 656 to 664.
      […] To the blanc moon / Her office they prescribed; to the other five / Their planetary motions, and aspects, / In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite, / Of noxious efficacy, and when to join / In synod unbenign; and taught the fix'd / their influence malignant when to shower, / Which of them rising with the sun, or falling / Should prove tempestuous: […]
    • 1683, George Wharton, “Of the Planetary Aspects, both Old and New, their Characters, and Æquations”, in John Gadbury, editor, The Works of that Late Most Excellent Philosopher and Astronomer, Sir George Wharton, Bar[onet]. Collected into One Entire Volume, London: Printed by H. H. for John Leigh, at Stationers Hall, OCLC 6498633, page 90:
      Kepler (the Lyncæus of the laſt Age) defines an Aſpect in this manner: Aſpectus eſt Angulus à Radiis Luminoſis binorum Planetarum in terra formatus, efficax ad ſtimulandum naturam ſublunarem. It is (ſaith he) an Angle made in the Earth by the Luminous Beams of two Planets, of ſtrength to ſtir up the vertue of all ſublunary things.
  10. (obsolete) The act of looking at something; gaze. [14th-19th c.]
    • 1590, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, 924:
      The tradition is no less ancient, that the basilisk killeth by aspect ; and that the wolf, if he see a man first, by aspect striketh a man hoarse.
    • 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Chapter 1:
      ... his aspect was bent on the ground with an appearance of deep dejection, which might be almost construed into apathy, ...
  11. (obsolete) Appearance to the eye or the mind; look; view.
    • 1684, Thomas Burnet, The Theory of the Earth, Vol 1, Chapter IX.
      They are both in my judgment the image or picture of a great Ruine, and have the true aspect of a World lying in its rubbish.
    • 1855, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Vol. IV, Chapter XVIII
      Three days later he opened the parliament. The aspect of affairs was, on the whole, cheering.
  12. (programming) In aspect-oriented programming, a feature or component that can be applied to parts of a program independent of any inheritance hierarchy.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

See also

References

Verb

aspect (third-person singular simple present aspects, present participle aspecting, simple past and past participle aspected)

  1. (astrology) This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
  2. (Wicca) To channel a divine being.
  3. (obsolete) To look at.

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch aspect, from Middle French aspect, from Latin aspectus.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ɑˈspɛkt/, /ɑsˈpɛkt/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: as‧pect
  • Rhymes: -ɛkt

Noun

aspect n (plural aspecten, diminutive aspectje n)

  1. aspect, element
  2. aspect, appearance
  3. (linguistics) aspect (grammatical category)

Derived terms
  • aspectueel

Descendants
  • Afrikaans: aspek

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aspectus. The grammatical sense is a semantic loan from Russian вид (vid).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /as.pɛ/
  • Audio (France, Paris)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛ
  • Homophone: aspects

Noun

aspect m (plural aspects)

  1. aspect
  2. (grammar) aspect (grammatical quality of a verb)

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French aspect, Latin aspectus.

Noun

aspect n (plural aspecte)

  1. aspect, look

Synonyms
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