spectacle

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English

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Etymology

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

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

Noun

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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 100, column 1:
      VVith ſcoffs 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
      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. (usually in the plural) glasses (instrument used to assist vision)
  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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

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

Further reading

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

Descendants

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

spectacle

  1. something that helps understanding

Descendants

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