magnification

American  

[mag-nuh-fi-key-shuhn] / ˌmæg nə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of magnifying or the state of being magnified.

2. the power to magnify.

3. a magnified image, drawing, copy, etc.

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magnification British  

/ ˌmæɡnɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of magnifying or the state of being magnified

2. the degree to which something is magnified

3. a copy, photograph, drawing, etc, of something magnified

4. a measure of the ability of a lens or other optical instrument to magnify, expressed as the ratio of the size of the image to that of the object

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Other Word Forms

• overmagnification noun

Etymology

Origin of magnification

First recorded in 1615–25, magnification is from the Late Latin word magnificātiōn- (stem of magnificātiō ). See magnify, -fication

Explanation

Magnification is the process of making an object appear much larger than it really is. You might use magnification to inspect a rare penny, or even a zit. You decide. Some small objects, like cells, require magnification to be seen at all. Other things, like distant planets, are so far away that you need the magnification of a telescope to get a good look at them. Binoculars use magnification so you can see the details of birds close-up, and reading glasses use magnification for reading small print. Magnification comes from the Latin word magnificare, "esteem greatly" or "make much of."

Example Sentences

So you have no field of vision, but you have incredible magnification.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

By comparing the apparent positions of the holes as viewed by the optical microscope with the actual positions, the researchers assessed errors from magnification calibration and image distortion of the optical microscope.

From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2024

Josh Bouganim, a software engineer, proposed examining both cards under 200x magnification to see if the threads in the swatches matched.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024

It appeared in Hubble’s image three times because of distortion and magnification from a massive cluster of galaxies sitting between it and Earth—an effect called gravitational lensing.

From Scientific American • Jul. 11, 2023

These, under high magnification, turn out to be bacteria, living in symbiosis with the spirochetes and the protozoan, probably contributing enzymes that break down the cellulose.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas