perspective

Where does the word "perspective" come from? It comes from Latin perspicere, passing through Medieval Latin before entering English (1400s).

Perspective’s story begins in Latin: perspicere meant “to look through, to see clearly.” To look through, to see clearly, from per- (through) and specere (to look). By medieval, the word had taken hold in Medieval Latin as perspectiva. The science of optics, from perspicere. It reached English by 1400s as perspective. Settled as the English word for a particular way of viewing things. Today, perspective means a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something, or the art of representing depth.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient perspicere "to look through, to see clearly", to look through, to see clearly, from per- (through) and specere (to look).
2. Stage 2 · Medieval Latin · medieval perspectiva "the science of optics", the science of optics, from perspicere.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1400s perspective "a particular way of viewing or considering things", settled as the English word for a particular way of viewing things.