Other forms: facets
A facet is one of the flat cut faces of a gem. Fifty-eight facets, cut the facets, facets catch the light.
The angles are calculated so that light entering the top bounces inside and comes back out, which is what makes a cut stone sparkle and an uncut one dull — the brilliance is geometry rather than material. A round brilliant has fifty-eight. Figuratively a facet is one aspect of a subject.
1nounfacetOne of the flat cut faces of a gem.
“About fifty-eight facets on four stones.”
2nounaspectOne aspect of a subject.
“Money is only one facet of the problem; we must also think about time.”
facet is a face or aspect.
French
facette
English, today
facet
Borrowed from French facette.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA