• IPA: /ˈæspɛkt/

aspect (plural aspects)

1. Any specific feature, part, or element of something.

   Synonyms: facet

   Japan's aging population is an important aspect of its economy.

2. The way something appears when viewed from a certain direction or perspective.
3. The way something appears when considered from a certain point of view.
4. A phase or a partial, but significant view or description of something.
5. One's appearance or expression. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: appearance, look, blee

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415 ↗, book III, page 66 ↗:

     In Knots they ſtand, or in a Rank they Walk, / Serious in Aſpect, earneſt in their Talk: {{...}

6. Position or situation with regard to seeing; that position which enables one to look in a particular direction; position in relation to the points of the compass.

   The house has a southern aspect, i.e. a position which faces the south.

7. Prospect; outlook.
   • 1643, John Evelyn, Diary

     This town affords a good aspect toward the hill from whence we descended ; nor does it deceive us ; for it is handsomely built ...

8. (grammar) A grammatical quality of a verb which determines the relationship of the speaker to the internal temporal flow of the event which the verb describes, or whether the speaker views the event from outside as a whole, or from within as it is unfolding. [from 19th c.]
9. (astrology) The relative position of heavenly bodies as they appear to an observer on earth; the angular relationship between points in a horoscope. [from 14th c.]
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book X, lines 656 to 664.

     quote en

10. (religion, mythology) The personified manifestation of a deity that represents one or more of its characteristics or functions.
11. (obsolete) The act of looking at something; gaze. [14th-19th c.]
    • 1590, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, 924:

      The tradition is no less ancient, that the basilisk killeth by aspect ; and that the wolf, if he see a man first, by aspect striketh a man hoarse.

    • 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Chapter 1:

      ... his aspect was bent on the ground with an appearance of deep dejection, which might be almost construed into apathy, ...

12. (obsolete) Appearance to the eye or the mind; look; view.
    • 1684, Thomas Burnet, The Theory of the Earth, Vol 1, Chapter IX.

      They are both in my judgment the image or picture of a great Ruine, and have the true aspect of a World lying in its rubbish.

    • 1855, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Vol. IV, Chapter XVIII

      Three days later he opened the parliament. The aspect of affairs was, on the whole, cheering.

13. (programming) In aspect-oriented programming, a feature or component that can be applied to parts of a program independent of any inheritance hierarchy.
14. (rail) The visual indication of a colour light (or mechanical) signal as displayed to the driver. With colour light signals this would be red, yellow or green.

• Italian: aspetto
• Russian: аспе́кт
• Spanish: aspecto

• French: aspect
• German: Aspekt
• Italian: aspetto
• Portuguese: aspeto (Portugal), aspecto (Brazil)
• Russian: вид
• Spanish: aspecto

• French: aspect
• German: Aspekt, Aktionsart
• Italian: aspetto
• Portuguese: aspeto (Portugal), aspecto (Brazil)
• Russian: вид
• Spanish: aspecto

aspect (aspects, present participle aspecting; past and past participle aspected)

1. (astrology, of a planet) To have a particular aspect or type of aspect.
2. (Wicca) To channel a divine being.
3. (obsolete) To look at.