Meanings
nounoptic axis (plural optic axes)
plural optic axes
- The optical axis.First known use 17th c.
[B]inocular creatures can in an instant […] move their eyes so as to direct the optick Axis to any point […].
1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXXIX - chemistryThe direction in which a ray of light passing through a crystal does not suffer double refraction.First known use 19th c.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna line that passes through the center of curvature of a lens so that light is neither reflected nor refracted
Similar
principal axis
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
APA
optic axis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optic%20axis
MLA
“optic axis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optic%20axis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “optic axis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optic%20axis.
Source: optic axis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.