# aspect

Pronunciation: say "AS-pekt" /ˈæspɛkt/

## Noun

1. A particular part, feature, or phase of something, such as a situation, plan, idea, or career.
   - Simple: One part or side of something, like a problem, plan, or idea.
   - _Cost is only one aspect of the decision; we also need to consider timing._
   - _The report examines the legal and financial aspects of the merger._
2. The way something appears or is understood when considered from a particular point of view.
   - Simple: How something looks or seems when you think about it in a certain way.
   - _Considered under its moral aspect, the decision looks far less defensible._
   - _The problem takes on a different aspect once you hear the other side of the story._
3. The appearance or look that a person, place, or thing presents, especially as seen from a particular direction.
   - Simple: The way someone or something looks.
   - _Seen from the harbor, the city presents a striking aspect of glass towers and cranes._
   - _Photographers prefer the bridge's western aspect, where the cables catch the evening light._
4. The direction that a building or place faces, or the view it looks out on.
   - Simple: The direction a building or piece of land faces, or the view from it.
   - _The house's southern aspect makes the living room bright even in winter._
   - _Vineyards on slopes with an eastern aspect catch the morning sun and ripen earlier._
5. A grammatical quality of a verb that expresses how the speaker relates to the internal time flow of an event: viewing it from outside as a whole or from within as it unfolds.
   - Simple: A quality of a verb that shows whether an action is finished, still going on, or repeated.
   - _Russian verbs mark aspect explicitly, distinguishing completed actions from ongoing ones._
   - _The progressive aspect in 'she was singing' presents the event as unfolding rather than finished._
6. The position of celestial bodies relative to one another as seen from Earth, or in astrology the angle formed between points in a horoscope.
   - Simple: In astrology, the position of planets compared with each other, as seen from Earth.
   - _Astrologers consider a square a tense aspect, formed when two planets sit ninety degrees apart._
   - _The almanac noted the rare aspect of Jupiter and Saturn meeting in the same sign._
7. One of the personified forms of a deity, embodying one or more of its qualities or roles.
   - Simple: One of the forms a god can take, showing one part of its power or character.
   - _Worshippers invoked the goddess in her aspect as protector of the harvest._
   - _Temples across the region honored different aspects of the same god._

## Noun

8. A look or gaze; the action of turning one's eyes upon something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The act of looking steadily at someone or something.

## Verb

9. To look at something; to gaze upon it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To look at someone or something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) In astrology, to form a particular angle, or type of angle, with another planet or point in a chart.
- (noun) The visual indication that a color light or mechanical signal displays to the driver of a train, such as red, yellow, or green.
- (noun) A modular unit of behavior, used in aspect-oriented programming, that can be woven into many parts of a program independently of any inheritance hierarchy.
- (verb) To channel a divine being.

## Origin

Latin speciō ("to look at, behold") combined with ad- ("to, towards") to form aspiciō ("to see or catch sight of"), which produced aspectus ("look, sight, appearance"). Middle English took this over as aspect.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aspect (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).