A Glossary Of Common Words You’ll Hear Your Optician Say

Every industry has its own language and terms. These words and phrases can be confusing to anyone who is not part of the daily operations of a specific industry, and the eyecare and optical business is no exception.

To help you understand the terms, acronyms, and phrases regularly used when purchasing glasses and lens, The Spectacle Shoppe has created this handy reference guide. Here you’ll find valuable information allowing you to comprehend and communicate your vision needs effectively.

Temple
The temples of your eyeglasses are the long stems of the frames that connect the front of the eyewear to the back of your head (just behind your ears).

Frame front
This is the most predominant feature of spectacle and what you see most. The frame front holds the lenses and will sit on the bridge of your nose.

Bridge
A spectacles bridge refers to the part of the frame that sits on your nose. It is called the bridge due to the fact that it sits on the bridge of your nose.

Nylor
In semi-rimless or half-framed glasses, the small plastic wire that holds your lenses in place is called a Nylor.

Rx
A prescription, often abbreviated Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered healthcare professional to a pharmacist or optician, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription for a particular patient.

Myopia
Also called near or short-sightedness is a common vision condition in which you can see objects near to you clearly, but things farther away are blurry. It occurs when the shape of your eye causes light rays to refract incorrectly, focusing images in front of your retina instead of on your retina.

Hyperopia
Hyperopia, also referred to as farsightedness, is a common vision condition in which you can see distant objects clearly, but things nearby may be blurry. People with hyperopia tend to squint to see nearby objects, and reading, writing, computer work, or drawing for extended periods may cause eye strain and headaches.

Power
Lens power, measured in diopters and also known as sphere, is the actual strength of your prescription glasses which are tailored to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness.

Cylinder
Cylinder or CYL indicates the lens power needed for astigmatism and always follows the sphere power on an eyeglass prescription. If you do not have astigmatism, you may not see this on your prescription. The axis indicates the angle (in degrees) of rotation to put your lenses for you.

Add
Add stands for Addition. It means the additional correction that you need for reading. It is used in bifocal glasses, reading glasses, or varifocal glasses.

Progressive lens
There are many types of progressive lenses. To quickly explain it, there are three different zones on your lens which assist in three separate areas when you can see. The top zone is typically distance, the middle is intermediate, which is about an arm’s length away. Finally, lower down, at the bottom of your progressive lens, is for reading. Progressive lenses can be customized to whatever you need them for.

Prism
An optometrist or ophthalmologist may prescribe prism to your prescription, and this could be due to muscle, nerve issues, or neurological disorders. Many people use it to correct double vision or to correct a lazy eye.

Crazing
Crazing means a lens that has cracked or has a web-like pattern of splits across the entire lens surface. Crazing is caused by chemical reactions, typically due to heat or cold damage to your anti-reflective coating.

Edging
Edging is done to trim down your lens. You see, the lens sent to your optical professional will be shaved down by a machine called an edger. This is done to be able to insert the lenses into a frame.

If you’re looking for an eyewear store, reach out to the experts at The Spectacle Shoppe. We offer to ship across North America and specialize in high-quality prescription glasses, luxury eyeglass frames, contact lenses, and more at affordable prices.

With over ten years of experience in the eyewear sector, we source only the most respected frames in the industry so that you never have to question the quality and care that goes into each pair of glasses or sunglasses.

View our full list of services here, read customer reviews here, or get in touch with us here.