Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

lens

Syllabification: (lens)
Pronunciation: /lenz/

Translate lens | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of lens

noun

  • a piece of glass or other transparent substance with curved sides for concentrating or dispersing light rays, used singly (as in a magnifying glass) or with other lenses (as in a telescope).
  • the light-gathering device of a camera, typically containing a group of compound lenses.
  • Physics an object or device that focuses or otherwise modifies the direction of movement of light, sound, electrons, etc..
  • Anatomyshort for crystalline lens.
  • short for contact lens.

Derivatives

lensed

adjective

lensless

adjective

Origin:

late 17th century: from Latin, 'lentil' (because of the similarity in shape)

lens in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of lens in the British & World English dictionary