Spec"ta*cle (?), n. [F., fr. L. spectaculum, fr. spectare to look at, to behold, v. intens. fr. specere. See Spy.]
1.
Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkable or noteworthy sight; a show; a pageant; a gazingstock.
O, piteous spectacle? O, bloody times!
Shak.
2.
A spy-glass; a looking-glass.
[Obs.]
Poverty a spectacle is, as thinketh me,
Through which he may his very friends see.
Chaucer.
3. pl.
An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.
4. pl.
Fig.: An aid to the intellectual sight.
Shakespeare . . . needed not the spectacles of books to read nature.
Dryden.
Syn. -- Show; sight; exhibition; representation; pageant.
© Webster 1913.