WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Alhacen n 1: an Egyptian polymath (born in Iraq) whose research in geometry and optics was influential into the 17th century; established experiments as the norm of proof in physics (died in 1040) [syn: Alhazen, Alhacen, al-Haytham, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham]