spectrum

«spectrum» in Mova's school dictionary: the band of colours that white light splits into, as in a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a spectrum, spectra or spectrums)

meaning for a pupil

1) The spectrum is the band of colours that white light splits into, as in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. tree →

2) A whole range of different but related things, from one end to another. tree →

3) The autism spectrum: autistic people are said to be "on the spectrum". tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in science lessons about light: a prism splits white light into a spectrum. In everyday talk: "a wide spectrum of opinions". In lessons about difference and respect: autism is a spectrum, so every autistic person is different.

examples

• A prism splits white light into a spectrum. tree →
• The rainbow shows the colours of the spectrum. tree →
• Red is at one end of the spectrum and violet at the other. tree →
• Our class has a wide spectrum of interests. tree →
• My cousin is on the autism spectrum. tree →
• Sound also has a spectrum of high and low pitches. tree →

note

Plural: spectra (science) or spectrums. Remember the colour order with "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" or "ROY G BIV". Adjective: spectral.

In the corpora

• Sunscreen of SPF 30 or more, broad-spectrum, goes on about 20 minutes before going out in summer sun.
• Splitting starlight into a rainbow, called a spectrum, shows dark lines that reveal which elements the star is made of.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «spectrum» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.