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

Example Sentences

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

The researchers discovered several pitfalls in calibrating the magnification of cryogenic optical microscopes, which tend to have worse image distortion than microscopes operating at room temperature.

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

“At this magnification you can’t see much,” Christoph said.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot