Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Perspective \Per*spec"tive\, a. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to
   look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F.
   perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See {Spy}, n.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [Obs.]
      --Bacon.

   2. Pertaining to the art, or in accordance with the laws, of
      perspective.

   {Perspective plane}, the plane or surface on which the
      objects are delineated, or the picture drawn; the plane of
      projection; -- distinguished from the ground plane, which
      is that on which the objects are represented as standing.
      When this plane is oblique to the principal face of the
      object, the perspective is called oblique perspective;
      when parallel to that face, parallel perspective.

   {Perspective shell} (Zo["o]l.), any shell of the genus
      {Solarium} and allied genera. See {Solarium}.