visive, a. ? Obs.
(ˈvɪzɪv)
[ad. med.L. visīv-us, f. L. vīsus seeing, sight: see -ive. So F. visif, -ive (15th c.), It., Sp., Pg. visivo.]
Of or pertaining to sight or to the power of seeing; visual.
1. visive faculty, visive power, visive virtue, etc.: The faculty of sight, the power of vision.
In early use virtue visive, after med.L. virtus visiva; cf. F. virtu, faculté, puissance visive (15–16th cent.).
| 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. iv. 136 Remotion of the matter conjoynt, by evaporation, and confortacyon of the vertue visive. 1576 G. Baker tr. Gesner's Jewell of Health 82 b, A water.. with a notable comforting of the virtue visive or seeing. 1609 Bible (Douay) Deut. xxxiv. comm., God elevated his visive powre above nature to see so farre. 1614 Jackson Creed iii. xxix. §5 As oft as he is disposed to exercise his visive facultie. 1653 Culpepper Pharm. Londin. 306 Ocular Medicines are two fold, viz. such as are referred to the Visive Vertues, and such as are referred to the Eyes themselves. 1666 Spurstowe Spir. Chym. (1668) 34 A principle, which is as necessary to goodness, as a visive power to the eye, to enable it to discern its object. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §59 For this end chiefly the visive sense seems to have been bestowed on animals. 1733 tr. Belloste's Hosp. Surgeon ii. 263 This man's eye was fair and sound to all appearance, yet was it utterly deprived of the visive faculty. 1804 Something Odd II. 54 The neat simplicity of Eloisa's dress..struck on the visive faculty of ‘my Lord’. 1836 Blackw. Mag. XL. 337 He had thrown a new and important light on the true character of these visive sensations. |
| fig. 1660 S. Fisher Rusticks Alarm Wks. (1679) 597 He hath given an understanding,..and this all men have, the inward visive faculty. a 1679 T. Goodwin Work of Holy Spirit v. ii. Wks. 1704 V. i. 178 This new Spiritual visive Power, with which the Understanding is endowed. 1728 E. Erskine Serm. Wks. (1791) 229/2 You bid me open my eyes, but alas! I want a visive faculty. 1830 T. Taylor Argts. Celsus 31 If, closing the perceptive organs of sense, you look upward with the visive power of intellect. a 1838 Jamieson Influence Spirit (1844) 82 Ignorance of such a description that it cannot receive the light; a want of the visive faculty. |
b. Serving as a means by which sight or vision is made possible. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1634 T. Johnson tr. Parey's Wks. i. x. 26 That [spirit] which causeth the sight, is named the Visive. 1655 Culpepper, etc. Riverius ii. Pref., In curing Diseases of the Eyes..we must alwaies mingle those things which comfort the visive spirits with other Medicines. 1657 Physical Dict., Visive-nerve, the nerve that is the instrument of the visive faculty, or of seeing. 1686 Snape Anat. Horse iii. vii. 119 The Optick or Seeing Nerves; so called..because they carry the visive spirits to the Eyes. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. xxx. 49 The lightning..dashes from the blinding eyes The visive spirits dazzled and bedimm'd. |
c. visive organ, the organ of vision; the eye.
| a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. iv. iii. (1660) 79 Lucretius..believes the Idolum in his own Visive organ to be adequate to the Sun it self. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §14 Let intellectual Tubes give thee a glance of things, which visive Organs reach not. 1704 Norris Ideal World ii. iii. 110 Vision is here taken materially for that impression which is made upon the visive organs by the rays of light. |
d. Having the power of vision; able to see.
| 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 641 God..impressed three Phantasms on the sensitive or visive Soul..of Abraham. 1793 T. Taylor Orat. Julian 22 We infer his perfective power from the whole phænomena, because he gives vision to visive natures. |
2. Forming the object of vision; capable of being seen.
| 1598 R. Haydocke tr. Lomazzo ii. 196 It looseth the corporal visiue form. 1647 A. Ross Mystag. Poet. x. (1675) 249 For open and solid bodies are not fit to receive or transmit the visive species. |
b. Optics. Falling upon or appearing to the eye.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 156 This doth happen when the axis of the visive cones, diffused from the object, fall not upon the same plane. 1670 E. R. Ne Plus Ultra 23 The visive rays. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 456 b, If the Sight-hole be..any whit large, it admitteth too many visive Rays. |
3. Sent out from the eyes.
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 283 It seeming..that the visiue beames in both..strucke home vpon our soules. |