lens
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɛnz/
rhymes: -ɛnz
Forms: form: lenses
form: lens
form: lentes
form: lense
Etymology: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field.
ref: 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
optics
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
glosses: A device which focuses or defocuses electron beams.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: A convex shape bounded by two circular arcs, joined at their endpoints, the corresponding concave shape being a lune.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
glosses: A genus of the legume family; its bean.
examples: text: The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
ref: 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: The transparent crystalline structure in the eye.
qualifier: earth science
glosses: A body of rock, ice, or water shaped like a convex lens.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: A construct used in statically-typed functional programming languages to access nested data structures.
examples: text: If "the public looks at the condition of America's children largely through a negative lens," worries Child Trends[…], "it may be more difficult to […] promote child well-being."
ref: 2004 April 11, Ann Hulbert, “Are the Kids All Right?”, in The New York Times Magazine, page 11:
text: No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily, or being forced to peer through.
ref: 2023 April 26, Benjamin Lee, quoting Steven Spielberg, “Steven Spielberg: ‘No film should be revised’ based on modern sensitivity”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: A way of looking, literally or figuratively, at something.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: achromatic lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: Barlow lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: best form lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: burning lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: capsule of lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: circle contact lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: circle lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: close-up lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: contact lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: converging lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: convex lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: corrective lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: corrugated lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: crystalline lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: delens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: echelon lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: explosive lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: eye lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: field lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: fish-eye lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: fisheye lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: Fresnel lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: goniolens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: gravitational lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: hyperlens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: immersion lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: kit lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensatic
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens blank
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens board
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens brush
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens cap
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensectomy
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenser
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens flare
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensfree
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenshound
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensless
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenslet
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenslike
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lens louse
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensmaker
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensmaking
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensman
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensmeter
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensoid
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensoidal
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lensometry
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenswoman
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenticel
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenticular
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lenticule
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lentil
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: lentoid
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: long-focus lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: long lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: macrolens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: macro lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: magnetic lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: Mediterranean lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: metalens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: microlens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: multiplying lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: nanolens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: narrow-angle lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: normal lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: objective lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: ocular lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: pancake lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: pebble lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: Petzval lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: prime lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: semilens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: shoot the lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: single-lens reflex
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: single lens reflex
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: spot lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: standard lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: sublens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: superlens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: telephotographic lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: telephoto lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: varifocal lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: water lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: wide-angle lens
sense: Terms derived from lens (noun)
word: zoom lens