Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Visual

Vis′u-al

,
Adj.
[L.
visualis
, from
visus
a seeing, sight: cf. F.
visuel
. See
Vision
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to sight; used in sight; serving as the instrument of seeing;
as, the
visual
nerve
.
The air,
Nowhere so clear, sharpened his
visual
ray.
Milton.
2.
That can be seen; visible.
[R.]
Visual angle
.
(Opt.)
See under
Angle
.
Visual cone
(Persp.)
,
a cone whose vertex is at the point of sight, or the eye.
Visual plane
,
any plane passing through the point of sight.
Visual point
,
the point at which the visual rays unite; the position of the eye.
Visual purple
(Physiol.)
,
a photochemical substance, of a purplish red color, contained in the retina of human eyes and in the eyes of most animals. It is quickly bleached by light, passing through the colors, red, orange, and yellow, and then disappearing. Also called
rhodopsin
, and
vision purple
. See
Optography
.
Visual ray
,
a line from the eye, or point of sight.
Visual white
(Physiol.)
,
the final product in the action of light on visual purple. It is reconverted into visual purple by the regenerating action of the choroidal epithelium.
Visual yellow
(Physiol.)
,
a product intermediate between visual purple and visual white, formed in the photochemical action of light on visual purple.

Webster 1828 Edition


Visual

VIS'UAL

,
Adj.
s as z. [L. visus.]
Pertaining to sight; used in sight; serving as the instrument of seeing; as the visual nerve.
The air, no where so clear, sharpen'd his visual ray.
Visual point, in perspective, a point in the horizontal line, in which all the ocular rays unite.
Visual rays, lines of light, imagined to come from the object to the eye.

Definition 2024


visual

visual

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

visual (comparative more visual, superlative most visual)

  1. Related to or affecting the vision.
    • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
      Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close [] above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.
  2. (obsolete) That can be seen; visible.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

visual (plural visuals)

  1. Any element of something that depends on sight.
  2. An image; a picture; a graphic.
  3. (in the plural) All the visual elements of a multi-media presentation or entertainment, usually in contrast with normal text or audio.
  4. (advertising) A preliminary sketch.

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin visuālis, from Latin visus.

Adjective

visual (epicene, plural visuales)

  1. visual

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin visuālis, from Latin visus.

Adjective

visual m, f (masculine and feminine plural visuals)

  1. visual

Galician

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin visuālis, from Latin visus.

Adjective

visual m, f (plural visuais)

  1. visual

Derived terms


Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin visuālis, from Latin visus.

Adjective

visual m, f (plural visuais, comparable)

  1. visual

Derived terms


Spanish

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin visuālis, from Latin visus.

Adjective

visual m, f (plural visuales)

  1. visual

Derived terms