Revised 2005 More entries for "perspective"
perspectivenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun perspective mean?
There are 13 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun perspective, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
perspective has developed meanings and uses in subjects including
How common is the noun perspective?
About 70occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1750 | 1.7 |
| 1760 | 4.6 |
| 1770 | 7.4 |
| 1780 | 4.5 |
| 1790 | 4.7 |
| 1800 | 4.9 |
| 1810 | 3.9 |
| 1820 | 4.9 |
| 1830 | 5.1 |
| 1840 | 4.0 |
| 1850 | 5.2 |
| 1860 | 5.9 |
| 1870 | 4.7 |
| 1880 | 5.0 |
| 1890 | 5.2 |
| 1900 | 6.3 |
| 1910 | 6.9 |
| 1920 | 8.5 |
| 1930 | 9.8 |
| 1940 | 12 |
| 1950 | 15 |
| 1960 | 21 |
| 1970 | 37 |
| 1980 | 56 |
| 1990 | 76 |
| 2000 | 81 |
| 2010 | 81 |
How is the noun perspective pronounced?
British English
/pəˈspɛktɪv/
puh-SPECK-tiv
U.S. English
/pərˈspɛktɪv/
puhr-SPECK-tiv
Where does the noun perspective come from?
Earliest known use
Middle English
The earliest known use of the noun perspective is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).
OED's earliest evidence for perspective is from before 1387, in the writing of John Trevisa, translator.
perspective is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: French perspective; Latin perspectiva.
In other dictionaries
Nearby entries
- person perception, n.1958–
- personpower, n.1973–
- personship, n.1645–
- person-to-person, adj. & adv.1913–
- persorption, n.1930–
- persp., n.1923–
- perspectartigraph, n.1904–
- perspection, n.c1550–
- perspectival, adj.a1866–
- perspectivally, adv.1943–
- perspective, n.a1387–
- perspective, adj.?a1475–
- perspective, v.1812–
- perspective control, n.1971–
- perspectived, adj.1930–
- perspective-free, adj.1966–
- perspective glass, n.1570–
- perspectiveless, adj.1853–
- perspectively, adv.1552–
- perspective piece, n.1606–
- perspective plane, n.1770–
Meaning & use
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Pronunciation
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Forms
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Frequency
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Compounds & derived words
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Entry history for perspective, n.
perspective, n. was revised in December 2005
perspective, n. was last modified in September 2023
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into perspective, n. in September 2023.
Earlier versions of perspective, n. were published in:
OED First Edition (1905)
OED Second Edition (1989)
Cite
Chicago
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “”, . <>
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MLA9
“”. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, , <>
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