Parts of Glasses – Lenses, Rims, Bridge and Temples

All 10 parts on the diagram

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From the front 6

Lens The frame holds one lens in front of each eye.
Rim (eyewire) Opticians call it the eyewire. A rimless front has none.
Bridge Bridge size is the distance between the two lenses. It is part of a frame size.
Nose pad A frame has two. They can be fixed to the frame or adjustable.
Guard arm Also called a pad arm. An optician bends it to set where the pad sits.
End piece It reaches back from the rim to the hinge.

From the side 4

Frame front A frame is a front and two temples.
Hinge Its barrels are held together by a small screw.
Temple Many people call the temples the arms. A frame has two.
Temple tip On a metal frame it is a plastic sleeve.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it: Wikipedia, text only, Glasses, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasses (eye wires or rims, bridge, nose pads, pad arms, temples, temple tips, end pieces, hinges); United States Air Force School of Health Care Sciences, Optometry Specialist course (1984), ERIC ED265401, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152963_0206 (a front and two temples; eyewire, bridge, nose pads, guard arms, end-pieces, hinges, hinge barrel and screw, temple butt, bend and tip; how a frame size is written); and C. W. Brooks and I. M. Borish, System for Ophthalmic Dispensing, read through the full-text search of https://archive.org/details/systemforophthal00broo (frame front, eyewire or rim, bridge, endpiece, nose pads, guard arms, hinge, temple, temple tip). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's frame, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A frame is three pieces: a front and two temples. The parts of a pair of glasses named here all sit on those three, first from the front, then from the side.

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The front holds the lenses

Each lens sits in a rim, which opticians call an eyewire. The bridge joins the two rims over the nose. Two nose pads rest on the nose, each on a thin guard arm, also called a pad arm. An end piece at each outer corner reaches back to a hinge.

The temples hold the front on

A hinge lets each temple fold. The temple runs back along the side of the head and bends down behind the ear, where a temple tip covers its end. The parts of a glasses frame have the same names on a plastic frame, though its nose pads may be fixed in place.

Guard arm and nose pad are easy to swap: the pad touches the nose, the arm holds the pad.

Questions and answers

What are the arms of glasses called?

Temples. Each temple is hinged to an end piece of the frame front, runs back along the side of the head and bends down behind the ear. Some people call them earpieces.

What is the part of glasses that sits on your nose called?

The nose pads rest on the nose. On a metal frame each pad is held by a thin wire called a guard arm or pad arm. The bridge is the part of the frame that joins the two rims above them.

What is an eyewire on glasses?

Another name for the rim: the part of the frame front that goes around a lens and holds it in place.

What do the numbers on a glasses frame mean?

They give the frame size: the eye size, which is the width of one lens, then the bridge size, which is the distance between the lenses, then the length of the temples.

Are the parts of sunglasses the same as the parts of a pair of eyeglasses?

Yes. Sunglasses are glasses with tinted lenses, so the frame has the same front, hinges and temples and every name here applies.