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spectacle

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From Middle English spectacle, from Middle French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum (“a show, spectacle”), from spectō (“to see, behold”), frequentative of speciō (“to see”). See species. Doublet of spectaculum.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈspɛktəkl̩/
  • Hyphenation: spec‧ta‧cle
  • Audio (UK):(file)

Noun

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spectacle (plural spectacles)

  1. An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.
    The horse race was a thrilling spectacle.
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
      VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
    • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[1]
      In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.
  2. An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.
    He made a spectacle out of himself.
  3. Attributive form of spectacles.
    • 1858 August 14, Peleg Parsley Bell, “Seeing the World. Letter No. 5. […] Still in London.”, in The Flag of Our Union, volume XIII, number 33, Boston, Mass.: M[aturin] M[urray] Ballou, page 260, column 2:
      Some very interesting relics of Adam and Eve were shown us, that were brought from America; such as a fine-tooth comb, made of thorns, a part of a pair of leather spectacle frames, without glasses, a boot jack made of ebony, and a set of pawpaws of props, with the backs filled with a hard substance, resembling lava.
  4. The brille of a snake.
  5. (rail transport) A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From Latin spectaculum, from spectare (“to look”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /spɛk.takl/
  • Hyphenation: spec‧ta‧cle
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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spectacle m (plural spectacles)

  1. a show, a spectacle, a performance, a concert
    Ils ont estimé qu’il est divertissant et qu’il se démarque nettement du spectacle actuel.
    They thought it was entertaining and that there was a clear difference between it and the current show.
  2. a sight, a showing, a display
    Devant un tel spectacle ils se jetèrent à genoux pleurant les morts de leurs compatriotes.
    They went down on their knees crying for the deaths of their fellow countrymen at this atrocious sight.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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Middle English

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Noun

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spectacle

  1. something that helps understanding

Descendants

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