ocular

English

Etymology

Derived from the Latin oculāris (“of the eye”), from oculus (“eye”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒk.jə.lə/, /ˈɒk.jʊ.lə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.kjə.lɚ/, /ˈɑ.kjʊ.lɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

ocular (comparative more ocular, superlative most ocular)

1. Of, or relating to the eye, or the sense of sight

   The medication may have adverse ocular side effects.

   It took some time after he lost his eye for him to receive his ocular prosthesis.

   • 1860, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Behavior”, in The Conduct of Life‎^[1], Boston: Ticknor & Fields, page 156:

     The eyes of men converse as much as their tongues, with the advantage, that the ocular dialect needs no dictionary, but is understood all the world over.

2. Resembling the eye.

   ocular markings on the wings of a butterfly

3. Seen by, or seeing with, the eye; visual.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,
     Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:
     Or by the worth of man’s eternal soul,
     Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
     Than answer my waked wrath!

   • 1692, Robert South, “A Discourse concerning Our Saviour’s Resurrection”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions‎^[2], 6th edition, volume V, London: Jonah Bowyer, page 171:

     For as Thomas was an ocular Witness of Christ’s Death and Burial, so were the other Disciples of his Resurrection; having actually seen him after he was risen.

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 300:

     […] I should have been apt to think, that the young gentlewomen and Mr. Lovelace were of longer acquaintance than yesterday. For he, by stealth, as it were, cast glances sometimes at them, which they returned; and, on my ocular notice, their eyes fell, as I may say, under my eye, as if they could not stand its examination.

   • 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Edward Randolph’s Portrait”, in Twice-Told Tales‎^[3], volume 2, Boston: James Munroe, page 32:

     Captain Lincoln proceeded to relate some of the strange fables and fantasies, which, as it was impossible to refute them by ocular demonstration, had grown to be articles of popular belief, in reference to this old picture.

   • 1849 October 20, Nathaniel Parker Willis, “Death of Edgar Poe”, in Home Journal‎^[4]:

     Suddenly starting from a proposition, exactly and sharply defined, in terms of utmost simplicity and clearness, he rejected the forms of customary logic, and by a crystalline process of accretion, built up his ocular demonstrations in forms of gloomiest and ghastliest grandeur, […]

Derived terms

• antennocular
• anteocular
• biocular
• circumocular
• dextrocular
• electroocular
• endoocular
• extraocular
• infraocular
• inocular
• interocular
• intraocular
• monocular
• multiocular
• multocular
• nasocular
• nasoocular
• nonocular
• ocellocular
• octonocular
• ocularcentric
• ocularcentrism
• ocularist
• ocularity
• ocular lens
• ocularly
• ocular micrometer
• ocular radiance
• ocular spark
• periocular
• postocular
• preocular
• presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome
• retroocular
• sinistrocular
• subocular
• supraocular
• transocular
• triocular
• uniocular
• vestibuloocular

Translations

of or relating to the eye

• Arabic: عَيْنِيّ (ʕayniyy)
• Armenian: ակնային (hy) (aknayin)
• Belarusian: во́чны (be) (vóčny), вачавы́ (vačavý)
• Bulgarian: о́чен (óčen)
• Catalan: ocular (ca)
• Czech: oční (cs)
• Esperanto: okula
• Finnish: silmä- (fi)
• French: oculaire (fr)
• Galician: ocular (gl)
• German: Augen- (de), okular (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ὀφθαλμικός (ophthalmikós)

• Hebrew: עֵינִי m
• Italian: oculare (it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: چاوی (çawî)

• Latin: oculāris
• Macedonian: очен (očen)
• Polish: oczny (pl)
• Portuguese: ocular (pt)
• Romanian: ocular (ro) m
• Russian: глазно́й (ru) (glaznój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀чнӣ

  Latin: òčnī (sh)

• Slovak: očný (sk)
• Slovene: očesen
• Spanish: ocular (es)
• Telugu: నేత్ర (nētra)
• Ukrainian: о́чний (óčnyj)

resembling the eye

• Finnish: silmämäinen
• Polish: oczny (pl)

seen by the eye — see visual

Noun

ocular (plural oculars)

1. The eyepiece of a microscope or other optical instrument, i.e., the optical element closest to the eye.

   Antonym: objective

2. Any of the scales forming the margin of a reptile's eye.

Descendants

• → Polish: okular

Translations

eyepiece — see also viewfinder

• Spanish: ocular (es) m

Anagrams

• Lacour, locura, rucola

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin oculāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [u.kuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [o.kuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [o.kuˈlaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [o.kuˈlar]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

ocular m or f (masculine and feminine plural oculars)

1. pertaining to the eye, ocular

   testimoni ocular ― eyewitness testimony

Noun

ocular m (plural oculars)

1. eyepiece, eyeglass

Related terms

• oll

Further reading

• “ocular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin oculus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin oculārislbor.

Galician ocular

Learned borrowing from Latin oculāris.

Adjective

ocular m or f (plural oculares)

1. ocular, pertaining to the eyes

Noun

ocular m (plural oculares)

1. eyepiece, eyeglass

Related terms

• ollo

Further reading

• “ocular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin oculus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin oculārisbor.

Portuguese ocular

Borrowed from Latin oculāris.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.kuˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.kuˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /o.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /o.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.kuˈlaχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /o.kuˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.kuˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.kuˈla.ɾi/

Adjective

ocular m or f (plural oculares)

1. ocular, pertaining to the eyes

Noun

ocular m (plural oculares)

1. eyepiece, eyeglass

Further reading

• “ocular”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ocular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French oculaire, from Latin ocularius.

Adjective

ocular m or n (feminine singular oculară, masculine plural oculari, feminine/neuter plural oculare)

1. ocular

Declension

Declension of ocular

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	ocular		oculară	oculari	oculare
	definite	ocularul		oculara	ocularii	ocularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	ocular		oculare	oculari	oculare
	definite	ocularului		ocularei	ocularilor	ocularelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin oculus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin oculārisbor.

Spanish ocular

Borrowed from Latin oculāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /okuˈlaɾ/ [o.kuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: o‧cu‧lar

Adjective

ocular m or f (masculine and feminine plural oculares)

1. ocular

Derived terms

• globo ocular
• ocularmente
• testigo ocular

Noun

ocular m (plural oculares)

1. eyepiece, eyeglass

Related terms

• ojo

Further reading

• “ocular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025