microscope

American  

[mahy-kruh-skohp] / ˈmaɪ krəˌskoʊp /

noun

microscopes plural

1. an optical instrument having a magnifying lens or a combination of lenses for inspecting objects too small to be seen or too small to be seen distinctly and in detail by the unaided eye.

2. Astronomy. Microscope, the constellation Microscopium.

---

microscope British  

/ ˈmaɪkrəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. an optical instrument that uses a lens or combination of lenses to produce a magnified image of a small, close object. Modern optical microscopes have magnifications of about 1500 to 2000 See also simple microscope compound microscope ultramicroscope

2. any instrument, such as the electron microscope, for producing a magnified visual image of a small object

---

microscope Scientific  

/ mī′krə-skōp′ /

1. Any of various instruments used to magnify small objects that are difficult or impossible to observe the naked eye.

2. ◆ Optical microscopes use light reflected from or passed through the sample being observed to form a magnified image of the object, refracting the light with an arrangement of lenses and mirrors similar to those found in telescopes.

3. See also atomic force microscope electron microscope field ion microscope

---

microscope Cultural  

1. A device that produces a magnified image of objects too small to be seen with the naked eye. Such objects are thus called “microscopic.” The microscope is widely used in medicine and biology. Common microscopes use lenses; others, such as electron microscopes, scan an object with electrons, x-rays, and other radiation besides ordinary visible light.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• microscopes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of microscope

First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin mīcroscopium; see micro-, -scope

Explanation

A microscope is a mechanical instrument that magnifies the image of small objects. You would use a microscope to look at something tiny, like an amoeba. First used in the 1650s, microscope is descended from the Modern Latin microscopium, meaning "an instrument for viewing what is small." In science, microscopes are essential for examining material that can't be seen with the naked eye, like bacteria and viruses. In the same vein, you might feel like you're "under a microscope" if you're being very closely observed and scrutinized, like a star in the limelight or a politician in front of the media.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

microscope microscopes

A camera connected to a light microscope records the fossils, and the color information is converted into an average gray scale value.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

Since his appointment as board chair, Taylor has defended Altman’s leadership, which has come under the microscope since he was briefly fired in November 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Then he put it under a microscope, he says, “just to see what was in there.”

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

When Tuchel decided to leave Manchester United veteran Harry Maguire out of his World Cup squad, it placed his faith in John Stones even further under the microscope.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Tom Geisbert looked at a piece of it under his microscope and, to his dismay, found that it was “incredibly hot—I mean, wall to wall with virus.”

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Modern MRI reveals the whole brain but lacks cellular detail; microscopes reveal individual cells but only in isolated slices.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

"The structure we have created here is so fine that it cannot be seen with optical microscopes at all," says Prof. Paul Mayrhofer from TU Wien's Institute of Materials Science and Technology.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

Microsculptures on display in the exhibition include artwork in the eye of a needle, on a pin head and one inside a single human hair - all so small they are only seen through microscopes.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026

The questions were about Friedman, and what he had in common with the people who lead companies that make bullet trains and electron microscopes and Hello Kitty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

Under the microscopes, their long tails furiously lashing, spermatozoa were burrowing head first into eggs; and, fertilized, the eggs were expanding, dividing, or if bokanovskified, budding and breaking up into whole populations of separate embryos.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley