telescope

See also: télescope and télescopé

English

An optical telescope.

Etymology

tele- + -scope. From Latin telescopium, from Ancient Greek τηλεσκόπος (tēleskópos, far-seeing), from τῆλε (têle, afar) + σκοπέω (skopéō, I look at).

Coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilei's instruments presented at a banquet at the Accademia dei Lincei.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɛlɪskəʊp/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈtɛləˌskoʊp/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: tele‧scope

Noun

telescope (plural telescopes)

  1. A monocular optical instrument that magnifies distant objects, especially in astronomy.
  2. Any instrument used in astronomy for observing distant objects (such as a radio telescope).

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

telescope (third-person singular simple present telescopes, present participle telescoping, simple past and past participle telescoped)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To extend or contract in the manner of a telescope.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To slide or pass one within another, after the manner of the sections of a small telescope or spyglass.
  3. (intransitive) To come into collision, as railway cars, in such a manner that one runs into another.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.