Microscope

How to spell microscope

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce microscope

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does microscope mean?

1. nounAn optical instrument that magnifies tiny objects so they can be seen and studied in detail.

Microscope in a sentence

• The technician placed the blood sample under the microscope.

• A powerful microscope revealed the structure of the cells.

Where does microscope come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word was assembled from two Greek elements: mikros, meaning 'small', and skopein, meaning 'to look at' or 'to examine'. It came into English in the seventeenth century, around the 1650s, modelled on the New Latin term microscopium that early scientists used for the new lens instrument. The device itself was developed in the late 1500s and early 1600s by Dutch lens grinders, and the name was coined to mirror 'telescope', which had been built from the same -scope element a few years earlier. The -scope ending now appears in a whole family of viewing instruments, from periscope to endoscope, so recognising it as a single meaningful unit helps fix the spelling. The trap for adults is the unstressed 'o' in the middle, micro-, plus the silent shape of 'scope', but knowing the parts mean 'small' and 'to look' keeps the letters in order.

How the word is built

• micro- (small)
• -scope (instrument for viewing, from Greek skopein 'to look at')