English Explanatory Dictionary

lens

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
  2. A device which focuses or defocuses other waves or radiation, such as microwave radiation, electron beams, sound waves (acoustic lenses), or explosions (explosive lenses).
  3. A convex shape bounded by two circular arcs, joined at their endpoints, the corresponding concave shape being a lune.
  4. The transparent crystalline structure in the eye.
  5. A body of rock, ice, or water shaped like a convex lens.
  6. A convex layer of fresh groundwater that floats above the denser saltwater, usually found on small coral or limestone islands and atolls.
  7. A construct used in statically-typed functional programming languages to access nested data structures.
  8. A way of looking, literally or figuratively, at something.
verb
  1. To film, shoot.
  2. To become thinner towards the edges.
name
  1. A municipality in Hainaut, Belgium.
  2. A commune in Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France, France.
  3. A municipality in Valais canton, Switzerland.

Pronunciation

/lɛnz/ en-us-lens.ogg

Word forms

lens lenses lentes lense lensing lensed

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin lēns Arabic عَدْسَة (ʕadsa)sl. Medieval Latin lēnsbor. English lens Borrowed from Latin lēns (“lentil”), with Medieval Latin later taking on the sense of “lens”, a semantic loan from Arabic عَدْسَة (ʕadsa, “lentil; optic lens”); the similar shape is the common factor.

Synonyms

freshwater lens Ghyben-Herzberg lens

Derived words

achromatic lens Barlow lens best form lens burning lens capsule of lens circle contact lens circle lens close-up lens contact lens converging lens convex lens corrective lens corrugated lens crystalline lens delens digital single-lens reflex digital single-lens reflex camera dual-lens reflex echelon lens explosive lens eye lens field lens fish-eye lens fisheye lens Fresnel lens goniolens gravitational lens hyperlens immersion lens kit lens lensatic lens blank lens board lens brush lens cap lensectomy lenser lens flare lensfree lenshound lensless lenslet lenslike lens louse lensmaker lensmaking lensman lensmeter lensoid lensoidal lensometry lenswoman lenticel lenticular lenticule lentil lentoid long-focus lens long lens macro lens
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