PERSPECTIVE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does perspective mean? 

• PERSPECTIVE (noun)
  The noun PERSPECTIVE has 2 senses:

1. a way of regarding situations or topics etc.

2. the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer

  Familiarity information: PERSPECTIVE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSPECTIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A way of regarding situations or topics etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

perspective; position; view

Context example:

consider what follows from the positivist view

Hypernyms ("perspective" is a kind of...):

orientation (an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "perspective"):

bird's eye view; panoramic view (a situation or topic as if viewed from an altitude or distance)

futurism (the position that the meaning of life should be sought in the future)

cutting edge; forefront; vanguard (the position of greatest importance or advancement; the leading position in any movement or field)

paradigm (the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time)

light (a particular perspective or aspect of a situation)

sight (a range of mental vision)

Weltanschauung; world view (a comprehensive view of the world and human life)

straddle (a noncommittal or equivocal position)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

linear perspective; perspective

Hypernyms ("perspective" is a kind of...):

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

Meronyms (parts of "perspective"):

vanishing point (the appearance of a point on the horizon at which parallel lines converge)

apparent horizon; horizon; sensible horizon; skyline; visible horizon (the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet)

picture plane (the plane that is in the foreground of a drawing or painting; coextensive with but different from the objective surface of the work)

 Context examples 

As I could obtain a perspective view of Mr. Omer inside, smoking his pipe by the parlour door, I entered, and asked him how he was.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“You lacked perspective. Now if you did not have to get so close to the subject—”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

You see, this vacation I have taken has given me perspective.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

From an outside perspective, understanding a spoken language versus a signed language seems like it might involve entirely different brain processes.

(The Rhythms of Sign Language, NSF)

The indication of upwelling material under Ceres' surface allows for another perspective in establishing how the dwarf planet may have evolved.

(Dawn Explores Ceres' Interior Evolution, NASA)

The results offer a different perspective from the prevailing view that high mountains are often responsible for altering atmospheric circulation.

(Six million years ago, atmospheric shifts led to increased diversity of grassland mammals, National Science Foundation)

The first interstellar object ever seen in our solar system, named ‘Oumuamua, is giving scientists a fresh perspective on the development of planetary systems.

(New Study Shows What Interstellar Visitor ‘Oumuamua Can Teach Us, NASA)

This is a big discovery from the planet-formation perspective.

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

Our paper rewrites the history of Late Antiquity from an environmental perspective that doesn't assume plague was responsible for changing the world, said Merle Eisenberg, also of the synthesis center.

(Justinianic plague not a landmark pandemic?, National Science Foundation)

The authors proposed that, in Caudipteryx, from a mechanical perspective, two-legged running automatically induced wing flapping.

(Scientific study suggests dinosaurs flapped their wings as they ran, Wikinews)