- telescope (n.)
- 1640s, from Italian telescopio (Galileo, 1611), and Modern Latin telescopium (Kepler, 1613), both from Greek teleskopos "far-seeing," from tele- "far" (see tele-) + -skopos "watcher" (see scope (n.1)). Said to have been coined by Prince Cesi, founder and head of the Roman Academy of the Lincei (Galileo was a member). Used in English in Latin form from 1619.
- telescope (v.)
- "to force together one inside the other" (like the sliding tubes of some telescopes), 1867, from telescope (n.). Related: Telescoped; telescoping.
