microscopicadj.
/ˌmʌɪkrəˈskɒpɪk/, U.S. /ˌmaɪkrəˈskɑpɪk/ 1. † b. Of the eye, an optical instrument, etc.: having the function or power of a microscope. Obsolete.
a. Of a quality, faculty, attribute, etc.: having the capacity to magnify, enlarge, or expose in the manner of a microscope.
ΚΠ
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 10 His Excellence In..magnifying all he writ With curious microscopick Wit.
1780 W. Hayley Ess. on Hist. i. 21 Sarcastic Tacitus, abrupt and dark... Searching the soul with microscopic power, To mark the latent worm that mars the flower.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. xxiv. 412 His intellect being subtle and microscopic.
1903 J. Morley Life Gladstone I. i. i. 4 The microscopic subtlety of a thirteenth century schoolman.
1939 H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn 58 I had a microscopic eye for the blemish, for the grain of ugliness which to me constituted the sole beauty of the object.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > magnification or magnifying instruments > [adjective] > microscope > possessing functions of
microscopical1690
microscopic1733
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 219 Why has not Man a microscopic eye? For this plain reason, Man is not a Fly.
a1761 J. Cawthorn Poems (1771) 215 To ev'ry corner of the brass They clapp'd a microscopic glass.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xli. 342 Dr. Wollaston's microscopic doublet..consists of two plano-convex lenses.
1876 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. 2nd Ser. 278 Gulliver's microscopic eye.
2.
a. Of or relating to the microscope or its use; conducted or achieved by means of a microscope; (of a person) that uses a microscope. Cf. microscopical adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > magnification or magnifying instruments > [adjective] > microscope
microscopical1663
microscopial1666
microscopic1735
1735 S. Bowden Poet. Ess. II. 84 Those new Worlds which Microscopic Aid Unfolds to View, imprison'd long in Shade.
?1765 B. Martin Optical Ess. 17 The nature of vision in insects demonstrated by microscopic observations.
a1811 J. Grahame Brit. Georgics (1812) 99 The microscopic power, that opes The vast invisible of Nature's works.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) x. 221 Professor Ehrenberg's microscopic researches.
1857 E. L. Birkett Bird's Urinary Deposits (ed. 5) 199 The microscopic examination of a sediment composed of cystine.
1863 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 3 83 Nor are they generally known to microscopic observers in this country.
1877 C. W. Thomson Voy. ‘Challenger’ I. i. 15 The substances in common use in mounting microscopic preparations.
1911 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 183 405 The microscopic properties of cold-worked iron.
1938 C. L. Whittles tr. A. Reifenberg Soils of Palestine ii. 25 Microscopic examination shows that loess consists mainly of extremely small particles of quartz together with calcareous particles which frequently, from their markings, etc., have been derived from fossils.
1960 K. M. Delavenay & E. Delavenay Introd. Machine Transl. 131 As opposed to microscopic study, which rivets its attention on infinitely small details, macroscopic study concentrates on large-scale aspects of phenomena.
1981 D. J. Bellamy & T. J. Bellamy Bellamy's Backyard Safari 74 One result is a scatter of both insect wings and birds' feathers, both of which are objects of extreme microscopic interest.
2000 Isis 91 171/2 In the history of neuroscience Camillo Golgi is known..for inventing the revolutionary method of microscopic observation of nervous tissue..that permitted the development of the neuron theory.
b. Of an action, undertaking, investigation, etc.: conducted as if by means of a microscope; minutely detailed, thorough, painstaking.
ΚΠ
1767 E. Lloyd Conversat. 7 There are Eyes of stronger ken, that dare, With microscopic search, explore the Fair.
1781 S. Johnson Rowe in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VI. 26 Few characters can bear the microscopick scrutiny of wit quickened by anger.
1850 F. W. Robertson Serm. 3rd Ser. viii. 111 It is not a microscopic self-examination.
1904 Sat. Rev. 29 Oct. 551 The microscopic inquiry of the Dictionary of National Biography.
1993 New Yorker 18 Oct. 126/1 There's a certain ship-in-the-bottle quality to the Aubrey books—an element of painstaking, microscopic recreation undertaken simply to prove that it can be done.
3.
a. So small as to be invisible, undetectable, or indeterminate without the use of a microscope.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > extremely small > so as to be invisible > invisible without microscope
microscopical1663
microscopic1742
1742 B. Martin Micrographia Nova p. vii A catalogue of microscopic objects..so compleat, that scarce any extraordinary phaenomenon, which requires the use of this instrument..will be found wanting in it.
1771 Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 431 The eyes of the smallest microscopic animals.
1802 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 92 300 We may..by means of a lens, perceive small microscopic crystals of thallite.
1819 J. G. Children Ess. Chem. Anal. 271 From the mountainous elephant to the microscopic insect.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. i. 24 Turner's microscopic touch.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 891 Some of which vessels..presented evidences of microscopic gummata.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. ii. 29 Lowest of all are the Unicellular Animals or Protozoa. They do not form a body in the strict sense; they are mostly microscopic and aquatic.
1972 N. Calder Restless Earth (1975) v. 95 Microscopic sea life laid down the chalk of Europe.
1990 Madison (New Jersey) Eagle 3 May 5/2 Lyme Disease is caused by a microscopic agent, transmitted by a tick.
b. More generally: very small, minor, or insignificant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > small or trifling in amount or degree
eathlyc890
littleOE
slender1530
foolish1533
triflinga1538
paltry1565
puny?1594
mean1599
minikin1617
unconsiderable1643
inconsiderable1648
punctilio1660
sneaking1703
insignificant1748
flimsy1756
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
microscopic1798
pindling1861
midget1879
diddly1893
scroddyc1909
chickenshit1934
1798 W. Dunlap Andre i. i. 12 But for a circumstance..Of cause so microscopic, that the tongues Of inattentive men call it the effect of chance, we must have lost.
1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled v. 156 Lest the reader think the topic On which we treat, too microscopic, We'll merely undertake to show, Our gnat-ling in a note below.
1849 C. Stovel Canne's Necessitie of Separation Introd. p. lxxviii Every..care was taken to find..terms the most microscopic to express the littleness of those ‘mere ceremonies’.
1887 G. H. Darwin in Fortn. Rev. Feb. 273 They are microscopic..earthquakes.
a1916 J. London Red One in Red One (1918) 36 Human life had dwarfed to microscopic proportions before this colossal portent of higher life.
1947 Daily Tel. 21 Apr. 1/1 Although the Foreign Ministers sat for two hours and 20 minutes this morning..progress was microscopic.
1992 S. S. Hall Mapping Next Millennium (1993) xi. 215 In a world of hostilities large and cruel, microscopic acts of violence do not cry out much for our attention.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.a1680