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parabolic mirror

parabolic mirror

1 6.6
A curved shiny surface that focuses parallel light rays to one point
  • noun
  • /ˌpɛrəˈbɑlɪk ˈmɪrər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : espejo parabólico
  • The telescope uses a large parabolic mirror to focus distant light onto a sensor.

Now how a parabolic mirror works is you have light sound coming in and the parabolic shape acts to focus it onto a single point.

Examples

  • A parabolic mirror can concentrate sunlight to generate electricity efficiently.

  • Now how a parabolic mirror works is you have light sound coming in and the parabolic shape acts to focus it onto a single point.

  • Nor one and two are both through based systems that use parabolic mirrors with the tube located in the mirrors focal point.

  • In order to minimize chirp, the white light beam was collimated by an off-axis parabolic mirror and split by a broadband 50/50 beam splitter to a reference and probe beam.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Engineers designed a solar power plant with thousands of parabolic mirrors to capture sunlight.

Synonyms

paraboloid reflector
vsparabolic mirror
  • Specialized
9.1

A curved dish that sends out a parallel beam or focuses parallel light and radio waves

focuses incoming parallel rays to a single point rather than creating beams
parabolic reflector
vsparabolic mirror
  • Specialized
8.0

A curved surface shaped like a bowl that focuses light or sound into a beam

focuses parallel light rays to a single point rather than handling many wave types

Antonyms

8 6.4

Spread out over a large area and not in one place

How Focused

parabolic mirror
  • Specialized
1 6.6
mirror
775 1.0
spherical aberration
  • Specialized
1 9.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

parabolic + mirror

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'parabolic' (having the shape/curvature of a parabola) + 'mirror' (a reflective surface): a mirror with a parabolic shape. This adjectival+noun composition is predictable and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it focuses parallel rays toward a point.

Etymology

Parabolic mirror comes from the mirror's curved shape: parabolic means a smooth, bowl-like curve and mirror is the shiny surface that has that shape. So, this mirror makes parallel rays of light meet at one point and therefore 'focuses' light to a single spot.