Etymology From Middle English visual, from French visuel, visual and directly from Late Latin vīsuālis (“of sight”), from vīsus (“sight, vision”) + -ālis (“adjective suffix”), from vidēre (“to see, perceive; look (at)”); see visage. By surface analysis, Latin vīsus + -ual.
1
Related to or affecting the vision.
Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
Etymology From Middle English visual, from French visuel, visual and directly from Late Latin vīsuālis (“of sight”), from vīsus (“sight, vision”) + -ālis (“adjective suffix”), from vidēre (“to see, perceive; look (at)”); see visage. By surface analysis, Latin vīsus + -ual.
1
Any element of something that depends on sight.
It wasn't the first time I pulled an all-nighter, but normally I was coming off an acid trip and still seeing visuals dancing around in my head.2016, S. C. Sterling, Teenage Degenerate, page 5:
2
An image; a picture; a graphic.
3
In plural All the visual elements of a multimedia presentation or entertainment, usually in contrast with normal text or audio.