lens

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See also: lēns, Lens, and Lëns

English

File:Bifoklabrille fcm.jpg
The lenses in bifocals bend light, distorting the appearance of the background.
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēns (“lentil”), in Medieval Latin later taking on the sense of "lens".

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɛnz/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnz

Noun

lens (plural lenses or (obsolete) lens)

  1. An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
    • 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
      Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field.
  2. A device which focuses or defocuses electron beams.
  3. (geometry) A convex shape bounded by two circular arcs, joined at their endpoints, the corresponding concave shape being a lune.
  4. (biology) A genus of the legume family; its bean.
  5. (anatomy) The transparent crystalline structure in the eye.
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
  6. (earth science) A body of rock, ice, or water shaped like a convex lens.
  7. (by extension, figuratively) A way of looking, literally or figuratively, at something.
    • 2004 April 11, Ann Hulbert, “Are the Kids All Right?”, in The New York Times Magazine, page 11:
      If "the public looks at the condition of America's children largely through a negative lens," worries Child Trends […] , "it may be more difficult to […] promote child well-being."

lens

  1. (obsolete) plural of lens

Derived terms

Terms derived from lens (noun)

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

lens (third-person singular simple present lenses, present participle lensing, simple past and past participle lensed)

  1. (transitive) To film, shoot.
  2. (geology) To become thinner towards the edges.

Translations

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch lens, from Latin lēns (“lentil”).

Noun

lens (plural lense)

  1. lens

Danish

Noun

lens n

  1. genitive singular indefinite of len
  2. genitive plural indefinite of len

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin lēns (“lentil”).

Noun

lens f (plural lenzen, diminutive lensje n)

  1. (optics) optical lens
  2. crystalline lens in the eye
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: lens
  • Indonesian: lensa
  • → Japanese: レンズ

Etymology 2

Probably related to lans (“lance”).

Noun

lens m (plural lenzen, diminutive lensje n)

  1. (historical) A type of barbless harpoon used for killing whales.

Etymology 3

Noun

lens f (plural lenzen, diminutive lensje n)

  1. Alternative form of luns

Etymology 4

Adjective

lens (comparative lenzer, superlative meest lens or lenst)

  1. empty
  2. weak, flaccid
Inflection
Declension of lens
uninflected lens
inflected lenze
comparative lenzer
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial lens lenzer het lenst
het lenste
indefinite m./f. sing. lenze lenzere lenste
n. sing. lens lenzer lenste
plural lenze lenzere lenste
definite lenze lenzere lenste
partitive lens lenzers —
Derived terms

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

Unknown, likely a borrowing from an unidentified source.

Compare Old High German linsa, Lithuanian lęšis, Old Church Slavonic лѧща (lęšta), and Albanian lend (Proto-Albanian *lenta), sounding too similar for a coincidence, however different enough to prohibit reconstruction of a common PIE protoform. May also be related to Ancient Greek λάθυρος (láthuros).

If ultimately a non-IE loanword, locating the source is virtually impossible because cultivation of lentil was widespread in the region since the Neolithic.

Pronunciation

Noun

lēns f (genitive lentis); third declension

  1. lentil
  2. (Medieval Latin) lens
Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, accusative singular in -em or -im, ablative singular in -e or -ī).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative lēns lentēs
Genitive lentis lentium
Dative lentī lentibus
Accusative lentem
lentim 		lentēs
lentīs
Ablative lente
lentī 		lentibus
Vocative lēns lentēs
Derived terms
Descendants
Descendants

Etymology 2

Unknown, perhaps a deformed form of what is found as Proto-Slavic *gňìda (“nit”), Proto-Germanic *hnits (“nit”), Ancient Greek κονίς (konís) (gen. κονίδος (konídos)), Armenian անիծ (anic, “nit”).

Noun

lēns f (genitive lendis); third declension

  1. nit (egg of a louse)
Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative lēns lendēs
Genitive lendis lendum
Dative lendī lendibus
Accusative lendem lendēs
Ablative lende lendibus
Vocative lēns lendēs
Descendants

Template:mid2

References

  • De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lēns, -tis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 334
  • Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “lens”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎[1] (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 351.
  • “lens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “lens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • lens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Turkish

Noun

lens (definite accusative lensi, plural lensler)

  1. contact lens

Declension

Inflection
Nominative lens
Definite accusative lensi
Singular Plural
Nominative lens lensler
Definite accusative lensi lensleri
Dative lense lenslere
Locative lenste lenslerde
Ablative lensten lenslerden
Genitive lensin lenslerin

Synonyms

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