/ · 1894 Brewer’s · S · Spectrum, Spectra, Spectre (Latin, specto, to behold)
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Spectrum, Spectra, Spectre (Latin, specto, to behold).
In optics a spectrum is the image of a sunbeam beheld on a screen, after refraction by one or more prisms. Spectra are the images of objects left on the eye after the objects themselves are removed from sight. A spectre is the apparition of a person no longer living or not bodily present.
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Entry taken from
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.