PERSPECTIVE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Perspective

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/pərspˈɛktɪv/ Listen

noun

Perspective n.

1.

A glass through which objects are viewed. (Obs.) "Not a perspective, but a mirror."

2.

That which is seen through an opening; a view; a vista. "The perspective of life."

3.

The effect of distance upon the appearance of objects, by means of which the eye recognizes them as being at a more or less measurable distance. Hence, aerial perspective, the assumed greater vagueness or uncertainty of outline in distant objects. "Aerial perspective is the expression of space by any means whatsoever, sharpness of edge, vividness of color, etc."

4.

The art and the science of so delineating objects that they shall seem to grow smaller as they recede from the eye; called also linear perspective.

5.

A drawing in linear perspective.

Isometrical perspective, an inaccurate term for a mechanical way of representing objects in the direction of the diagonal of a cube.

Perspective glass, a telescope which shows objects in the right position.

adjective

Perspective adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. (Obs.)

2.

Pertaining to the art, or in accordance with the laws, of perspective.

Perspective plane, the plane or surface on which the objects are delineated, or the picture drawn; the plane of projection; distinguished from the ground plane, which is that on which the objects are represented as standing. When this plane is oblique to the principal face of the object, the perspective is called oblique perspective; when parallel to that face, parallel perspective.

Perspective shell (Zool.), any shell of the genus Solarium and allied genera. See Solarium.

See images of 'Perspective'

Etymology of 'Perspective'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Perspective" Quotes from Famous Books

... vast amphitheatre of granite, curving away on either hand and reaching up, tier on tier, till the tiers melted in the grey sky overhead. The lowest tier stood twenty feet above my head; yet curved with so lordly a perspective that on the far side of the arena, as I looked across, it seemed almost level with the ground; while the human figures about the great archway yonder were diminished to the size of ants about a hole. . . For there were human figures busy in the arena, ...

— Old Fires and Profitable Ghosts • A. T. Quiller-Couch

... and faithful in affection. Great want of plodding perseverance, doing many things with promise and nothing well. A fine ear for music: no execution; a good eye for drawing: no knowledge or practice in perspective; more critical than constructive. Very cool and decided with horses. Good nerve, good whip and a fine rider. Intellectually self-made, ambitious, independent and self-willed. Fond of admiration and love from both men and women, and able ...

— Margot Asquith, An Autobiography: Volumes I & II • Margot Asquith

... past and future, the distant and the near, would seem to be brought into immediate perception, it does not therefore confer upon us a higher degree of spirituality. It may undoubtedly offer us a truer perspective than that we may derive from the ordinary circumstance of our lives, and may suggest good grounds for a more comprehensive ethical system, but it cannot compel one to do the right thing or to lead the virtuous life. Clairvoyance, indeed, is a faculty ...

— Second Sight - A study of Natural and Induced Clairvoyance • Sepharial

... die. A copy of the Jus Divinum held too close to the eyes could shut out the universe with its infinite chances and changes, its splendid indifference to our ephemeral fates. Cromwell, we should gather, had found out the secret of this historical perspective, to distinguish between the blaze of a burning tar-barrel and the final conflagration of all things. He had learned tolerance by the possession of power,—a proof of his capacity for rule. In 1652 Haynes writes: "Ther was ...

— Among My Books - First Series • James Russell Lowell

... she was happy in knowing herself admired; and she was happy in having the two dances with Edmund still to look forward to, during the greatest part of the evening, her hand being so eagerly sought after that her indefinite engagement with him was in continual perspective. She was happy even when they did take place; but not from any flow of spirits on his side, or any such expressions of tender gallantry as had blessed the morning. His mind was fagged, and her happiness sprung from being the friend with whom it ...

— Persuasion • Jane Austen

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