Table of Contents
The word for today is…
perspective (noun, adjective) –
noun
1a : a mental view or prospect
b : a visible scene giving a distinctive impression of distance : vista
2a : the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed : point of view
b : the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance
3 : the appearance to the eye of objects in respect to their relative distance and positions
4a : the technique or process of representing on a plane or curved surface the spatial relation of objects as they might appear to the eye specifically : representation in a drawing or painting of parallel lines as converging in order to give the illusion of depth and distance
b : a picture in perspective
adjective
1 : of, relating to, employing, or seen in perspective
2 obsolete : aiding the vision
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : To the modern mind, it’s hard to believe that perspective had to be “discovered”, but before the 1400s paintings simply lacked accurate perspective. Instead, important people and objects were simply shown larger than less important ones; and although distant objects were sometimes shown smaller than near ones, this wasn’t done in a regular and accurate way. Just as odd, many paintings didn’t represent the other meaning of perspective either—that is, a scene might not be shown as if it were being seen from one single place. Today, perspective is used much like standpoint. Just as standpoint once used to mean simply the physical place where you stand but today also means the way you “see” things as a result of who you are and what you do, the same could be said about perspective.
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