compound microscope

noun

1. an optical instrument for forming magnified images of small objects, consisting of an objective lens with a very short focal length and an eyepiece with a longer focal length, both lenses mounted in the same tube.

compound microscope

noun

1. an instrument for magnifying small objects, consisting of a lens of short focal length for forming an image that is further magnified by a second lens of longer focal length Compare simple microscope

Word History and Origins

Origin of compound microscope¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Galileo had his telescope, Louis Pasteur had a compound microscope and American scientists today have … the treadmill?

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When processed properly, scientists like Lackmann can examine the otolith with a compound microscope and count the layers, like the rings on a tree, and learn the age of the fish.

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But the compound microscope, invented around 1600, opened up a hidden world of microbes, allowing scientists to start naming them after their shapes, said Richard Barnett, a historian of science in Britain.

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But when the pair examined the fossil through compound microscopes, they found that the teeth didn’t curve much at all from their base.

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It was not until he recently took a closer look with a powerful compound microscope — magnifying the specimen up to 1,000 times — that he noticed the tiny ticks within.

Read more on Nature