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monocle

[mon-uh-kuh l]
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noun
  1. an eyeglass for one eye.

Origin of monocle

1855–60; < French, noun use of adj.: one-eyed < Late Latin monoculus, equivalent to mon- mon- + oculus eye
Related formsmon·o·cled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for monocled

Historical Examples

  • Not imagination; this one was the veddy veddy correct, monocled type.

    Checklist

    Marion Zimmer Bradley

  • Her head was graciously inclined towards the monocled youth who stood nearest her.

    The House by the Lock

    C. N. Williamson

  • As Flint looked at Winifred, he felt an absurd jealousy of the monocled Englishman who presumed to show his admiration so plainly.

    Flint

    Maud Wilder Goodwin

  • It was upon that vision known to earth as Amanthus this monocled, British, chinless person was gazing.

    Selina

    George Madden Martin

  • At one time, I suppose, Duncan would have called his monocled captain out.

    The Prairie Child

    Arthur Stringer

British Dictionary definitions for monocled

monocle

noun
  1. a lens for correcting defective vision of one eye, held in position by the facial muscles
Derived Formsmonocled, adjective

Word Origin

C19: from French, from Late Latin monoculus one-eyed, from mono- + oculus eye
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for monocled

monocle

n.

"single eyeglass," 1886, from French monocle, noun use of adjective monocle "one-eyed, blind in one eye" (13c.), from Late Latin monoculus "one-eyed," from Greek monos "single, alone" (see mono-) + Latin oculus "eye" (see eye (n.)).

That this, a hybrid, a Gallicism, and a word with no obvious meaning to the Englishman who hears it for the first time, should have ousted the entirely satisfactory eyeglass is a melancholy illustration of the popular taste in language. [Fowler]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper