spectrum
pronunciation
How to pronounce spectrum in British English:
UK [ˈspektrəm]
How to pronounce spectrum in American English:
US [ˈspektrəm]
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- Noun:
- an ordered array of the components of an emission or wave
- broad range of related values or qualities or ideas or activities
Word Origin
- spectrum (n.)
- 1610s, "apparition, specter," from Latin spectrum (plural spectra) "an appearance, image, apparition, specter," from specere "to look at, view" (see scope (n.1)). Meaning "visible band showing the successive colors, formed from a beam of light passed through a prism" first recorded 1670s. Figurative sense of "entire range (of something)" is from 1936.
Example
- 1. American telecoms firms are clamouring for more wireless spectrum .
- 2. Gallery where the windows are illuminated in a moving spectrum of color .
- 3. There is a spectrum , not a sharp distinction , between free exchange and coercion .
- 4. Policies that do so span a broad spectrum .
- 5. Two people with the same spectrum disorder may not act alike or have the same skills .