Alexander Pope
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To the modern mind, it's hard to believe that perspective had to be "discovered", but before the 1400s paintings simply lacked accurate perspective. Instead, important people and objects were simply shown larger than less important ones; and although distant objects were sometimes shown smaller than near ones, this wasn't done in a regular and accurate way. Just as odd, many paintings didn't represent the other meaning of perspective either—that is, a scene might not be shown as if it were being seen from one single place. Today, perspective is used much like standpoint. Just as standpoint once used to mean simply the physical place where you stand but today also means the way you "see" things as a result of who you are and what you do, the same could be said about perspective.
Synonyms
Examples of perspective in a Sentence
John Updike, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2007
Courses offer an international perspective, so even a lesson on the American Revolution will interweave sources from Britain and France with views from the Founding Fathers.
—Claudia Wallis et al., Time, 18 Dec. 2006
Tipper and I still marvel at everything we saw and the perspective it offered. At a moment when the country was still in the throes of the conflict over Vietnam, it was refreshing to see the best of America.
—Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2023
The scene switches from audio of Sandra and Samuel discussing his need for more space and time to work to a present-tense perspective of what happened in that living room, a day or so before his death.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2023
Pest Control is seemingly in place to maintain the authentic and unique perspective of Banksy’s works and to confirm they were officially produced by Banksy.
—Tyson Mitman, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
But at least one prominent account that covers news from a Palestinian perspective received a notice Monday that it had been permanently banned.
—Naomi Nix, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023
Chicago’s commitment to social justice echoes throughout the exhibit, along with her perspectives on feminism, sexuality, birth and death, and the erasure and codification of women in the art canon.
—Zachary Schwartz, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2023
With the Israel-Hamas war, people with varied perspectives share a common concern that not enough people are speaking up on social media about what’s going on.
—Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 11 Oct. 2023
Other films shift perspective to examine the world more closely.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 10 Oct. 2023
This calculation is going to be a bit more challenging from a physics perspective.
—WIRED, 29 Sep. 2023
Millie Brigaud, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Sep. 2023
Introducing Dahmer, meanwhile, starts without sound, then gradually adds Dahmer’s voice, a perspective switch intended to invoke dread.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2023
While there has to be perspective about social-media posts regarding offseason workouts, the mere fact that they have been placed on Kyle’s timelines speaks volumes.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2022
In May 2020, Prather and her coauthors published a perspective article in the journal Science, explaining the airborne spread of Covid-19.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN, 12 May 2023
This causes a perspective shift that appears to reduce excessive rumination and self-focus, which may allow people to escape unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors.
—ELLE, 13 Apr. 2023
So the perspective candidates are for people [00:14:00] who want to run for the state legislature, and two who want to run for the Ohio democratic party central committee.
—Laura Johnston, cleveland, 3 June 2022
Of all 16 perspective host cities, only Seattle can offer outdoor average highs as low as the 70s in July.
—Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2021
The findings from Arnqvist and his team, Wyber notes, also help put the female’s perspective center stage—something widely lacking in research on animal mating.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 6 July 2021
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perspective.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun (1)
Middle French, probably modification of Old Italian prospettiva, from prospetto view, prospect, from Latin prospectus — more at prospect
Adjective
Middle English, optical, from Medieval Latin perspectivus
Noun (2)
Middle English perspectyf, from Medieval Latin perspectivum, from neuter of perspectivus of sight, optical, from Latin perspectus, past participle of perspicere to look through, see clearly, from per- through + specere to look — more at per-, spy
Noun (1)
1563, in the meaning defined at sense 4a
Adjective
1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing perspective
Dictionary Entries Near perspective
Cite this Entry
“Perspective.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perspective. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.
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Kids Definition
perspective
1 of 2 noun
perspective
2 of 2 adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on perspective
Nglish: Translation of perspective for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of perspective for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about perspective
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