binocular

[buh-nok-yuh-ler, bahy-]

noun

Usually binoculars. Also called pair of binoculars, prism binoculars. an optical device, providing good depth effect, for use with both eyes, consisting of two small telescopes fitted together side by side, each telescope having two prisms between the eyepiece and objective for erecting the image.

adjective

involving both eyes: binocular vision.

Origin of binocular

First recorded in 1705–15; bin- + ocular

Related formsbin·oc·u·lar·i·ty, nounbin·oc·u·lar·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for binocular

binoculars, lorgnette, pince-nez

Examples from the Web for binocular

Historical Examples of binocular

Considered in relation to the Philosophy of Binocular Vision.
Notes and Queries, Number 212, November 19, 1853
Various
A field glass or a Bausch & Lomb binocular is really a necessity.
Our Bird Comrades
Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser
The Captain applied his binocular telescope to his eyes as he spoke.
The Giant of the North
R.M. Ballantyne
Poole re-focussed the binocular, but it was some moments before he spoke.
Fitz the Filibuster
George Manville Fenn
It was like seven binocular glasses rolled into one telescope.
The Pirate City
R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for binocular

binocular

adjective

involving, relating to, seeing with or intended for both eyesbinocular vision

Word Origin for binocular

C18: from bi- 1 + Latin 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 binocular

adj.

1738, "involving both eyes," earlier "having two eyes" (1713), from French binoculaire, from Latin bini "two by two, twofold, two apiece" (see binary) + ocularis "of the eye," from oculus "eye" (see eye (n.)). The double-tubed telescopic instrument (1871, short for binocular glass) earlier was called a binocle. Related: Binocularity.

binocular in Medicine

binocular

[bə-nŏk′yə-lər, bī-]

adj.

Adapted to the use of both eyes. Used of an optical instrument.

binocular in Science

binocular

[bə-nŏk′yə-lər]

Adjective

Relating to or involving both eyes at once, as in binocular vision.

Noun

An optical device, such as a pair of field glasses, consisting of two small telescopes, designed for use by both eyes at once. Often used in the plural as binoculars.