spectroscope

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an instrument that disperses electromagnetic radiation into its component wavelengths so that the resulting spectrum can be viewed or examined, especially in visible light

   The astronomer used a spectroscope to separate the star's light into distinct spectral lines.

A nineteenth-century scientific compound of spectro- + -scope. Spectro- comes from Latin spectrum ("appearance, image"), while -scope comes from Greek skopein ("to look at, examine"). The name identifies an instrument for forming and inspecting a spectrum.

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