cymoscope
English
Alternative forms
- cymatoscope (philologically prescribed, but sees little actual use)
- kumascope
Etymology
First attested as cymatoscope in 1903 and as cymoscope in 1905; formed as cȳm- (the short stem of the Latin cȳma, from the Ancient Greek κῦμα (kûma), kūma, “wave”) + -o- + -scope. Cymatoscope is philologically prescribed in place of cymoscope because it preserves the long stem (κῡμᾰτ- (kūmat-), kūmat-) of its ultimate Ancient Greek etymon, which properly does not form compounds on its short stem (κῡμ- (kūm-), kūm-).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sīʹməskōp, IPA(key): /ˈsaɪməskəʊp/
Noun
cymoscope (plural cymoscopes)
- (wireless telegraphy, disused) A detector of electromagnetic waves.
- 1905, Engineering, LXXIX, page 742:
- Apparatus belonging to any of these groups might all be called a cymoscope, or wave-detector.
References
- “cymoscope” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
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