lens English · revision 7102

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1693|origins=la lens}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɛnz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is New Latin, from Latin [[m|la|lens|t=lentil]] (genitive lentis) (see [[lentil]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) so called from its double-convex shape.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A shaped piece of glass for focusing light: 1693 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1690s in Etymonline;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) MWU dates it to 1673.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The lens of the eye is from 1719, as is one facet of a compound eye.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A lens used in photography is from 1841.^(OED 1989) In geology, a body of ore or rock shaped like a lens is from 1903.^(OED 1989) A contact lens and a lens of spectacles are later uses.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) The verb, to film, is from 1921.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1693 – a glass lens.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1719 – the lens of the eye.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1841 – a camera lens.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1903 – in geology.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1921 – to film (verb).^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of glass or other transparent material with curved surfaces, used to focus or spread rays of light, as in [[spectacles]] or a [[camera]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The transparent part of the eye behind the iris that focuses light on the retina.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[contact lens]].^(Collins 2023)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lensed]]

+ * [[lensless]]

+ * [[lenslike]]

+ * [[lenticel]]

+ * [[lenticular]]

+ * [[lenticule]]

+ * [[lentil]]

+ * [[lensman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contact lens]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}