Visible

Visible is an adjective used to describe something that can be seen with the human eye or otherwise perceived visually. In everyday language it can refer to objects, phenomena, or information that is detectable by sight. The word comes from Latin visibilis, from videre, "to see," and entered English via Old French and Middle English forms.

In science, visible commonly refers to visible light, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can detect with the eye. The visible spectrum spans roughly 380 to 750 nanometers. The eye detects different wavelengths as colors, a process supported by photoreceptor cells in the retina—cones for color and rods for brightness and motion. Visual perception also depends on neural processing and contextual cues, and certain conditions or deficiencies (such as color vision anomalies) can affect visibility.

Visibility can be influenced by physical conditions such as lighting, weather, and atmospheric particles. In fields like astronomy, naked-eye visibility describes how well a celestial object can be seen without instrumentation, while in photography and design, contrast and illumination determine how much detail is visible.

In technology and computing, visibility is a property used in user interfaces and web design. For example, the CSS visibility property can take the value visible to render an element, or other values like hidden to keep the space allocated without displaying the element. This usage reflects a broader sense of whether information or elements are perceptible to users.

Overall, visible encompasses both literal sight and the broader idea of perceptibility, whether in nature, science, or digital media.