Microscopic

How to spell microscopic

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce microscopic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does microscopic mean?

1. adjectiveSo small that it can only be seen with a microscope, or extremely tiny in general.
2. adjectiveExtremely close, thorough, or detailed in examination or attention.

Microscopic in a sentence

• The lab found microscopic traces of bacteria on the surface.

• The auditors gave the accounts microscopic scrutiny before signing off.

• A microscopic crack in the pipe was leaking water for months.

• Her microscopic attention to the contract caught the error everyone missed.

Where does microscopic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built entirely from Greek elements and entered English in the 1600s, soon after the instrument it describes was invented. The first part, micro-, comes from the Greek mikros, meaning 'small' or 'little', and the middle part comes from skopein, a Greek verb meaning 'to look at' or 'to examine'. Put together, the noun 'microscope' literally named a device for looking at small things, and the adjective 'microscopic' followed to describe anything so tiny it could only be seen through one. The same skopein root sits inside many everyday words such as 'telescope', 'periscope', and 'horoscope', which is a handy reminder that the tricky middle of microscopic is spelled scop, not skop or scope. Over time the word also took on the looser meaning of 'extremely small' in ordinary speech, applied to anything minute.

How the word is built

• micro- (small)
• scop (look at, see)
• -ic (adjective suffix)