noun
- a prism made of Iceland spar (calcite) used to produce or analyze polarized light
Usage: technical; optics
Examples
- The physicist used a nicol to demonstrate the properties of polarized light.
- A nicol prism is essential equipment in many optics laboratories.
- Light passing through a nicol emerges polarized in a single plane.
- The nicol was named after its inventor, William Nicol, a Scottish physicist.