binocle

English

Etymology

From French binocle, from Latin bi- (“two”) + oculus (“eye”).

Noun

binocle (plural binocles)

1. (archaic) A kind of double-barrelled field glass or opera glass.
   • 1899, Lyof Tolstoi, “Part Two/Chapter 29”, in Nathan Haskell Dole, transl., Anna Karenina:

     Anna did not look at her husband; but, taking her glass, she gazed at the place where Vronsky had fallen. It was so distant, and the crowd was so dense, that she could not make anything out of it. She dropped her binocle, and started to go; but at that instant an officer came galloping up to make some report to the emperor. Anna leaned forward, and listened.

References

• “binocle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Blincoe, bleocin, lebocin

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French binocle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biˈnɔklə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bi‧no‧cle

Noun

binocle m (plural binocles, no diminutive)

1. opera glass
   • 1975, Louis Couperus, "De binocle", in De Revisor, 29 (first published in 1920).

     Reeds sloten enkele winkels in de Pragerstrasse en was het bedrijf gedaan en zag hij een opticien zijn bediende wijzen de luiken voor het raam te stellen, toen hij bedacht geen binocle te hebben.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. field glass (binoculars)

Synonyms

(opera glass):

• lorgnet
• toneelkijker

(field glass):

• veldkijker

French

Etymology

From Latin bi- (“two”) + oculus (“eye”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

binocle m (plural binocles)

1. pince-nez
2. lorgnette
3. (in the plural only) spectacles, eyeglasses, specs

Synonyms

• (glasses): lunettes

Derived terms

• binoclard (“four-eyed; four-eyes”)

Related terms

• binocles

Descendants

• >? English: pinochle

Further reading

• “binocle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012