Word: aspect Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”). Pronunciation: /ˈæspɛkt/ 1. Any specific feature, part, or element of something. Example: Japan's aging population is an important aspect of its economy. 2. The way something appears when viewed from a certain direction or perspective. Example: The stone has a greenish aspect in this light. Example: Given the limitations of planar representation[…] The painter is constantly forced to choose one aspect over the other. 3. The way something appears when considered from a certain point of view. Example: in certain aspects [ = in certain respects] Example: “Perspective” can be understood in different ways. It can mean a single aspect from which something is considered or evaluated; it can also mean a view from a relation between aspects of a subject. 4. A phase or a partial, but significant view or description of something. 5. One's appearance or expression. Example: Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe, That by Characters grauen in thy browes, And by thy martiall face and ſtout aſpect, Deſeru’ſt to haue the leading of an hoſte? Example: In Knots they ſtand, or in a Rank they Walk, / Serious in Aſpect, earneſt in their Talk: […] 6. Position or situation with regard to seeing; that position which enables one to look in a particular direction; position in relation to the points of the compass. Example: The house has a southern aspect, i.e. a position which faces the south. 7. Prospect; outlook. Example: This town affords a good aspect toward the hill from whence we descended ; nor does it deceive us ; for it is handsomely built […] 8. A grammatical quality of a verb which determines the relationship of the speaker to the internal temporal flow of the event which the verb describes, or whether the speaker views the event from outside as a whole, or from within as it is unfolding. 9. The relative position of heavenly bodies as they appear to an observer on earth; the angular relationship between points in a horoscope. Example: […] To the blanc moon / Her office they prescribed; to the other five / Their planetary motions, and aspects, / In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite, / Of noxious efficacy, and when to join / In synod unbenign; and taught the fix'd / their influence malignant when to shower, / Which of them rising with the sun, or falling / Should prove tempestuous: […] Example: Kepler (the Lyncæus of the laſt Age) defines an Aſpect in this manner: Aſpectus eſt Angulus à Radiis Luminoſis binorum Planetarum in terra formatus, efficax ad ſtimulandum naturam ſublunarem. It is (ſaith he) an Angle made in the Earth by the Luminous Beams of two Planets, of ſtrength to ſtir up the vertue of all ſublunary things. 10. The personified manifestation of a deity that represents one or more of its characteristics or functions. Example: The Mother Goddess in her many manifestations is termed Shakti, the female energy in creation, and worshipped as the supreme female aspect of Brahman. 11. The act of looking at something; gaze. Labels: obsolete Example: The tradition is no less ancient, that the basilisk killeth by aspect ; and that the wolf, if he see a man first, by aspect striketh a man hoarse. Example: […] his aspect was bent on the ground with an appearance of deep dejection, which might be almost construed into apathy, […] 12. Appearance to the eye or the mind; look; view. Labels: obsolete Example: 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth Vol 1, Chapter IX. They are both in my judgment the image or picture of a great Ruine, and have the true aspect of a World lying in its rubbish. Example: Three days later he opened the parliament. The aspect of affairs was, on the whole, cheering. 13. In aspect-oriented programming, a feature or component that can be applied to parts of a program independent of any inheritance hierarchy. 14. The visual indication of railway signal as displayed to the driver. With three-aspect colour light signals this would be red, yellow or green, and on four-aspect signals, double-yellow also; a two-aspect signal displays red or green. Example: It was in this work [on the Southern Railway] that the four-aspect system of indications, using red, yellow, double yellow, and green, was first installed. […][page 229, photo caption] Three-aspect colour-light signal with three-way junction indicator, Bow Junction, Eastern Region Example: The whole of the main lines to be electrified were being equipped with four-aspect colour-light signals, automatically operated, where appropriate, and spaced to give a 5min headway throughout.