optical

adjective op·ti·cal \ ˈäp-ti-kəl \

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

Definition of optical

1 : of or relating to the science of optics

2 a : of or relating to vision : visual

b : visible 1

optical wavelength

c : of, relating to, or being objects that emit light in the visible range of frequencies

an optical galaxy

d : using the properties of light to aid vision

an optical instrument

3 a : of, relating to, or utilizing light especially instead of other forms of energy

optical microscopy

b : involving the use of light-sensitive devices to acquire information for a computer

optical character recognition

4 : of or relating to optical art

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optically

play \ˈäp-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Examples of optical in a Sentence

The company manufactures microscopes, telescopes, and other optical instruments.
an optical illusion that fools most people

Recent Examples of optical from the Web

Do yourself a favor and check out the optical department during your next shopping trip.

— meghan overdeep, Southern Living, "Are You Taking Advantage of This Life-Changing Costco Perk?," 12 Apr. 2018
Using genetic and optical techniques to turn their activity on or off, the researchers changed the way adults responded to pups.

— lydia denworth, Scientific American, "A Command Center in the Mammalian Brain Orchestrates Parenting Behaviors," 11 Apr. 2018
Unanswered questions abound, like what makes one type of glass stronger than another, or why certain mixtures produce their unique optical or structural properties.

— doug main, The Atlantic, "Humankind’s Most Important Material," 7 Apr. 2018
Conventional optical telescopes use bigger and bigger mirrors to see objects smaller and farther away in the universe.

— brian resnick, Vox, "Most images of black holes are illustrations. Here’s what our telescopes actually capture.," 6 Apr. 2018
Researchers have already demonstrated simple ghost imaging systems for optical and infrared light, which rely on programmable filters, says Jeffrey Shapiro, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

— sophia chen, Science | AAAS, "X-ray ‘ghost images’ could cut radiation doses," 28 Mar. 2018
Steinway has hundreds of hours of performances available on the Spirio, which uses a complex system of optical sensors and proprietary software to translate hammer velocity and ensure proper pedaling.

— nathan bomey, USA TODAY, "How Steinway's $133,000 Spirio self-playing piano engineered a symphonic turnaround," 27 Mar. 2018
Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert, said the most secure election systems use optical scanners to read ovals filled out on paper ballots.

— michael levenson, BostonGlobe.com, "Election officials prepare for cyberattacks," 27 Mar. 2018
His idea for changing that involves embedding small light sources and optical sensors along the edges of a polymer.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "Robotic muscle and sensitive polymer fingers in Columbia University’s robotics labs," 21 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'optical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of optical

1570

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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optical Synonyms

OPTICAL Defined for English Language Learners

optical

adjective

Definition of optical for English Language Learners

: used to help a person see
: relating to or using light
: involving the use of devices that get information for a computer by identifying patterns of light