aspect

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Any specific feature, part, or element of something.

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

2. 2
   noun

   The way something appears when viewed from a certain direction or perspective.

   Given the limitations of planar representation[…] The painter is constantly forced to choose one aspect over the other.

3. 3
   noun

   The way something appears when considered from a certain point of view.

   in certain aspects [ = in certain respects]

4. 4
   noun

   One's appearance or expression.

   Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe, That by Characters grauen in thy browes, And by thy martiall face and ſtout aſpect, Deſeru’ſt to haue the leading of an hoſte?

5. 5
   noun

   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.

6. 6
   noun

   Prospect; outlook.

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

7. 7
   noun

   The relative position of heavenly bodies as they appear to an observer on earth; the angular relationship between points in a horoscope.

   […] To the blanc moon / Her office they prescribed; to the other five / Their planetary motions, and aspects, / In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite, / Of noxious efficacy, and when to join / In synod unbenign; and taught the fix'd / their influence malignant when to shower, / Which of them rising with the sun, or falling / Should prove tempestuous: […]

8. 8
   noun

   The personified manifestation of a deity that represents one or more of its characteristics or functions.

   The Mother Goddess in her many manifestations is termed Shakti, the female energy in creation, and worshipped as the supreme female aspect of Brahman.

Etymology

From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).