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Origin and history of spectral

spectral(adj.)

1718, "capable of seeing specters;" 1815, "ghostly;" from spectre + -al (1). The meaning "pertaining to a spectrum" is 1832, from stem of spectrum + -al (1). Spectrous in the sense of "ghostly" is attested from 1650s, marked obsolete but Blake used it and Swinburne after him. Related: Spectrally; spectrality.

also from 1718

Entries linking to spectral

spectre(n.)

chiefly British English spelling of specter (q.v.); for spelling, see -re.

spectrum(n.)

1610s, "apparition, phantom, specter," a sense now obsolete, from Latin spectrum (plural spectra) "an appearance, image, apparition, specter," from specere "to look at, view" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe").

The meaning "visible band showing the successive colors, formed from a beam of light passed through a prism" is recorded from 1670s. The word was extended to the entire range of radiation wavelengths (including visible light) by 1888. The figurative sense of "entire range" of any thing is from 1936.

-al(1)

suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).

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