spectacle
pronunciation
How to pronounce spectacle in British English:
UK [ˈspektəkl]
How to pronounce spectacle in American English:
US [ˈspektəkl]
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- Noun:
- something or someone seen (especially a notable or unusual sight)
- an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale
- a blunder that makes you look ridiculous; used in the phrase `make a spectacle of' yourself
Word Origin
- spectacle
- spectacle: [14] Spectacle is one of a large family of English words that go back ultimately to Latin specere ‘look’ (a descendant of the Indo- European base *spek- ‘look’, of which a reversed Greek version *skep- gave English sceptic and scope). Others include special, species, spectator [16], spectre [17] (etymologically an ‘appearance’ or ‘image’), spectrum [17] (from Latin spectrum ‘appearance’, ultimate source also of spectre, and first used for the ‘band of colours’ by Isaac Newton around 1671), speculate [16], spite, and spy, not to mention prefixed forms such as aspect [14], auspice, conspicuous [16], espionage, expect, frontispiece, inspect [17], respect, and suspect. Spectacle itself comes via Old French spectacle from the Latin derivative spectāculum ‘show, sight’.The application to a ‘device for seeing with’, which lies behind English spectacles [15] and its abbreviation specs [19], is a post-Latin development.=> auspice, conspicuous, espionage, expect, frontispiece, inspect, respect, special, species, suspect
- spectacle (n.)
- mid-14c., "specially prepared or arranged display," from Old French spectacle "sight, spectacle, Roman games" (13c.), from Latin spectaculum "a public show, spectacle, place from which shows are seen," from spectare "to view, watch, behold," frequentative form of specere "to look at," from PIE *spek- "to observe" (see scope (n.1)).
Synonym
Example
- 1. But this was only the foreground spectacle .
- 2. This is a moving spectacle .
- 3. If he ever fell , it was going to have to be a great spectacle .
- 4. The hajj-like spectacle of desperate crowds trying to push their way into the station became international news .
- 5. The royal wedding and the kardashian spectacle did share one thing : white bridesmaid dresses .