spectrum (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict[spectrum 词源字典]
1610s, "apparition, specter," from Latin spectrum (plural spectra) "an appearance, image, apparition, specter," from specere "to look at, view" (see scope (n.1)). Meaning "visible band showing the successive colors, formed from a beam of light passed through a prism" first recorded 1670s. Figurative sense of "entire range (of something)" is from 1936.[spectrum etymology, spectrum origin, 英语词源]