Orthoconoscope

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An optical instrument that combines a polarizing microscope with a converging lens so that the interference figures of crystals can be viewed along a single axis
2. A polarizing device used in crystallography to examine the interference patterns produced when convergent polarized light passes through a crystal
3. A specialized microscope arrangement for observing crystals under convergent polarized light to reveal their optic axis and interference figures

Etymology: "Orthoconoscope" is a technical coinage rather than an old word with a long history. It is a synonym of "orthicon," the name of a television camera tube, so its story is really the story of how engineers named a device in the mid-twentieth century. The "ortho" element comes from Greek "orthos," meaning straight or upright, and the "-scope" ending comes from Greek "skopein," meaning to look at or examine, the same root found in "microscope" and "telescope." Together the parts describe an instrument for viewing, with the first half pointing to the way its image was handled. Because it is a deliberate modern construction built from classical roots, no ancient Greek writer ever used it. Its meaning is tied entirely to the device it names: a tube that converts a scene into an electrical signal for broadcast. The word therefore belongs to the vocabulary of early television engineering rather than to general English.

Synonyms: conoscope