noun
- Plural of nicol; a type of prism made from Iceland spar (calcite) used to polarize light in optical instruments.
Usage: technical; optics; named after William Nicol, Scottish physicist
Examples
- The laboratory used nicols to demonstrate the principles of light polarization.
- Nicols are essential components in many polariscopes and optical experiments.
- The physicist aligned the nicols to measure the intensity of polarized light.