perspective Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a way of regarding situations or topics etc.
    position; view.
    • consider what follows from the positivist view
  2. noun the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer
    linear perspective.

WordNet


Per*spec"tive adjective
Etymology
L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. Obs. Bacon.
  2. Pertaining to the art, or in accordance with the laws, of perspective.
Per*spec"tive noun
Etymology
F. perspective, fr. perspectif: cf. It. perspettiva. See Perspective, a.
Definitions
  1. A glass through which objects are viewed. Obs. "Not a perspective, but a mirror." Sir T. Browne.
  2. That which is seen through an opening; a view; a vista. "The perspective of life." Goldsmith.
  3. The effect of distance upon the appearance of objects, by means of which the eye recognized them as being at a more or less measurable distance. Hence, aërial perspective, the assumed greater vagueness or uncertainty of outline in distant objects.
    Aërial perspective is the expression of space by any means whatsoever, sharpness of edge, vividness of color, etc. Ruskin.
  4. The art and the science of so delineating objects that they shall seem to grow smaller as they recede from the eye; -- called also linear perspective.
  5. A drawing in linear perspective.

Webster 1913