Spectacles

How to spell spectacles

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce spectacles

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does spectacles mean?

1. nounA pair of lenses set in a frame and worn over the eyes to correct or aid vision.
2. nounStriking public shows or sights that capture an audience's attention.

Spectacles in a sentence

• He cleaned his spectacles before reading the contract.

• The fireworks were among the grandest spectacles of the festival.

• A pair of wire-rimmed spectacles sat folded on the desk.

• The parade offered colourful spectacles that delighted the crowd.

Where does spectacles come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin spectaculum, meaning a public show or sight, which was formed from the verb spectare, meaning to view or watch repeatedly. That verb is itself a frequentative of specere, the plain Latin verb for to look at, a root that still shines through in relatives like inspect, spectator, and prospect. English took the word in through Old French during the 1300s, first in the sense of a striking sight or display. By the 1400s the plural spectacles had also come to mean a pair of lenses worn to aid the eyes, on the idea of an instrument for looking. The unstressed middle vowels and the quiet -acle ending are the spelling traps here, since the sound gives little hint of the c in -acle.

How the word is built

• spect- (from Latin spectare: to look, watch)
• -acle (noun suffix: means or instrument)
• -s (plural)