telescope English · revision 39895

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1619, J. Bainbridge|origins=grc τηλεσκόπος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈtɛl.ɪ.skəʊp/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈtɛl.əˌskoʊp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|telescopio]], together with [[m|la-new|telescopium]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010) from [[grc|τηλεσκόπος|tr=tēleskópos|t=far-seeing]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) formed from [[m|grc|τῆλε|tr=têle|t=far off]], the source of [[tele-]], and [[m|grc|-σκόπος|tr=-skópos|t=watcher]], related to [[m|grc|σκοπέω|tr=skopéō|t=to look at]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) The Italian word appears first in a letter of 13 August 1611 from Federico Cesi, founder of the Accademia dei Lincei, to Galileo, and Galileo used it later that year;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Giambattista della Porta credited Cesi with the name in 1613.^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) The Latin form is recorded from 1612,^(OED 2026) and Barnhart and Etymonline mention its use by Kepler in 1613.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The French word [[m|fr|télescope]] is recorded from 1627.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An instrument for viewing distant objects: 1619, in John Bainbridge's account of the comet of 1618,^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) where Etymonline says it still had its Latin form.^(Etymonline) Barnhart dates the Italian form ''telescopio'' in English to 1648, in Boyle, and the form ''telescope'' to 1656.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Barnhart 1995) An earlier English name for the instrument was ''trunk'' or ''perspective trunk'' (1610s).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun was used figuratively from 1650,^(OED 2026) and Johnson (1755) defined it as "a long glass by which distant objects are viewed".^(Johnson 1755) The verb appeared in the 18th century: a rare slang sense "to watch someone from a distance" (1756–1891) was followed by "to look through a telescope" (1832).^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The sense from the sliding tubes of a hand telescope, to force or slide one part into another, is recorded from 1844 transitively^(OED 2026) and 1866 intransitively,^(OED 2026) and became common in reports of railway collisions, in which carriages were driven into one another;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1867.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The figurative sense, to compress or condense, followed in 1886.^(OED 2026) In Yorkshire dialect the noun was used for a kaleidoscope.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1619 – the instrument, in Latin form.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1648 – ''telescopio''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1650 – figurative use of the noun.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1656 – the form ''telescope''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1756 – verb, to watch from a distance (slang, obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1832 – verb, to look through a telescope.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1844 – verb, to force one thing into another.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1866 – verb, to collapse lengthways.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1886 – verb, to condense or compress.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[optical]] instrument with [[lens|alt=lenses]], or lenses and [[mirror|alt=mirrors]], that makes distant objects look nearer and larger: ''They watched Saturn's rings through a small telescope.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A [[radio telescope]] or other instrument that gathers [[radiation]] from distant sources.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To slide or be pushed together, one part into another, like the tubes of a hand telescope; to [[collapse]] lengthways: ''The front carriages telescoped in the crash.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To make shorter or more [[compact]]; to [[condense]]: ''The course telescopes three years' study into one.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[telescopic]]

+ * [[telescopy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[television]]

+ * [[telegraph]]

+ * [[microscope]]

+ * [[periscope]]

+ * [[scope]]

+ * [[bishop]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}