Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A way in which something can be viewed by the mind.
  • noun A characteristic or feature of something.
  • noun A particular look or facial expression; mien.
  • noun Appearance to the eye, especially from a specific vantage point.
  • noun A position facing or commanding a given direction; exposure.
  • noun A side or surface facing in a particular direction.
  • noun The configuration of the stars, constellations, or planets in relation to one another.
  • noun This configuration, thought by astrologers to influence human affairs.
  • noun A property of verbs in which the action or state is related to the passage of time, especially in reference to completion, duration, or repetition.
  • noun A set or category of verb forms indicating such a relation.
  • noun Archaic An act of looking or gazing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To behold; look upon.
  • noun The act of seeing, or of looking at anything; view; gaze; glance; look.
  • noun Countenance; look or particular appearance of the face; mien; air: as, a mild or severe aspect.
  • noun Appearance to the eye or mind; look: as, the physical aspect of the country.
  • noun One of the ways in which a thing may be viewed or contemplated: as, to present an object or a subject in its true aspect; in a double aspect; a favorable aspect.
  • noun Practical bearing or reference.
  • noun View commanded; prospect; outlook.
  • noun [Now used in this sense mainly with reference to the points of the compass: as, a house has a southern aspect or exposure.]
  • noun In astrology, the relative positions of the planets as they appear at any given time to an observer upon the earth; the combined look of the heavenly bodies from the earth.
  • noun In heraldry, the position of an animal with reference to the spectator.
  • noun In forestry, the direction toward which a slope faces. The eight main points of the compass, north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, are distinguished in forest description. Also called exposure.
  • noun In logic, the concept of a compound object, or this object itself, resulting from mentally connecting a definite conception to an indefinite or partially indesignate object, the compound being regarded as identical with the previously indefinite object.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare The act of looking; vision; gaze; glance.
  • noun Look, or particular appearance of the face; countenance; mien; air.
  • noun Appearance to the eye or the mind; look; view.
  • 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.
  • noun obsolete Prospect; outlook.
  • noun (Astrol.) The situation of planets or stars with respect to one another, or the angle formed by the rays of light proceeding from them and meeting at the eye; the joint look of planets or stars upon each other or upon the earth.
  • noun (Astrol.) The influence of the stars for good or evil.
  • noun (Aëronautics) A view of a plane from a given direction, usually from above; more exactly, the manner of presentation of a plane to a fluid through which it is moving or to a current. If an immersed plane meets a current of fluid long side foremost, or in broadside aspect, it sustains more pressure than when placed short side foremost. Hence, long narrow wings are more effective than short broad ones of the same area.
  • noun (Geom.) the direction of the plane.
  • transitive verb obsolete To behold; to look at.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The way something appears when viewed in a certain manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a distinct feature or element in a problem
  • noun the feelings expressed on a person's face
  • noun the visual percept of a region
  • noun the beginning or duration or completion or repetition of the action of a verb
  • noun a characteristic to be considered

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin aspectus, a view, from past participle of aspicere, to look at : ad-, ad- + specere, to look; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

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  • His aspect was worried, and his head was as bald as the palm of my hand; but his hair in falling seemed to have stuck to his chin, and had prospered in the new locality, for his beard hung down to his waist.

    -Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)

    March 9, 2011