Meaning

noun a polyhedron with two congruent and parallel faces (the bases) and whose lateral faces are parallelograms

noun optical device having a triangular shape and made of glass or quartz; used to deviate a beam or invert an image

originEtymology tree Ancient Greek πρῑ́ω (prī́ō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă)bor. Late Latin prismalbor. English prism Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (“(geometry) prism”), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prĭ́zō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0