spectacle
noun/ˈspɛktəkl̩/
Etymology From Middle English spectacle, from Middle French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum (“a show, spectacle”), from spectō (“to see, behold”), frequentative of speciō (“to see”). See species. Doublet of spectaculum.
1
An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.
- The horse race was a thrilling spectacle.
- VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
1 more example
- 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.
2
An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.
- He made a spectacle out of himself.
3
Attributive form of spectacles.
- Some very interesting relics of Adam and Eve were shown us, that were brought from America; such as a fine-tooth comb, made of thorns, a part of a pair of leather spectacle frames, without glasses, a boot jack made of ebony, and a set of pawpaws of props, with the backs filled with a hard substance, resembling lava.1858 August 14, Peleg Parsley Bell, “Seeing the World. Letter No. 5. […] Still in London.”, in The Flag of Our Union, volume XIII, number 33, Boston, Mass.: M[aturin] M[urray] Ballou, page 260, column 2:
4
The brille of a snake.
5
Rail transport, Railways, Transport A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.
- Synonyms
- show, pageant, glasses, eyeglasses, specs
- Derived terms
- bespectacled, counterspectacle, make a public spectacle of oneself, make a spectacle of oneself, minispectacle, spectacle case, spectacled, spectacleless, spectaclelike, spectaclemaker, spectaclemaking, spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch, superspectacle
- Related terms
- species, spectacular, speculate