telescope

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: télescope and télescopé

English[edit]

An optical telescope.
Telescope render

Etymology[edit]

tele- +‎ -scope. From Latin tēlescopium, 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. Doublet of Telescopium.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɛl.ɪ.skəʊp/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈtɛl.əˌskoʊp/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Hyphenation: tele‧scope

Noun[edit]

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).
  3. (television) A retractable tubular support for lights.
    • 1963, Television Engineering: Report, page 245:
      In some studios the telescopes are fixed to the lighting grid […]

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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.
  4. (transitive, intransitive, mathematics, of a series) To collapse, via cancellation.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • “telescope”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=telescope&oldid=75541880"