-scope Also -scopic and -scopy.
An instrument for observing, viewing, or examining something.
[Greek skopein, look at.]
This ending appears in the names of a wide variety of instruments in engineering, medicine, the sciences, and other fields, most containing the linking vowel -o- before the ending. All can have associated adjectives in -scopic, as in spectroscopic or gyroscopic. Many have a linked noun in -scopy that describes an observation or examination made using the instrument: laryngoscopy, endoscopy (among those in which that form is rare are kaleidoscope and periscope, in which names do not represent a scientific instrument). In horoscope, the ending has a figurative sense.
Examples of words in -scope
Word origins are from Greek unless otherwise stated.
| endoscope | an instrument which can be introduced into the body to give a view of its internal parts | endon, within |
| gyroscope | a device consisting of a fast-spinning wheel on supports, often used as a compass or to give stability | guros, a ring |
| horoscope | a forecast of a person's future based on the positions of the stars and planets at the time of his or her birth | hōra, time |
| kaleidoscope | a toy consisting of a tube containing mirrors and pieces of coloured glass or paper | kalos, beautiful, plus eidos, form |
| laparoscope | a fibre optic instrument which is inserted through the abdominal wall to view the organs in the abdomen or permit small-scale surgery | lapara, flank |
| microscope | an optical instrument used for viewing very small objects | mikros, small |
| ophthalmoscope | an instrument for inspecting the retina and other parts of the eye | ophthalmos, eye |
| oscilloscope | a device for viewing oscillations by a display on the screen of a cathode ray tube | English oscillation |
| otoscope | an instrument designed for visual examination of the eardrum and the passage of the outer ear | ous, ōt-, ear |
| periscope | a device, as in a submarine, which uses mirrors to observe a scene otherwise out of sight Greek peri, about, around)spectroscope, an apparatus for producing and recording spectra for examination | English spectrum |
| stethoscope | a medical instrument for listening to the action of someone's heart or breathing | stēthos, breast |
| stroboscope | an instrument for apparently stopping movement by shining a bright light at intervals | strobos, whirling |
| telescope | an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer | tēle-, far off |
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