Meanings
nounanamorphoscope (plural anamorphoscopes)
plural anamorphoscopes
- A mirrored device which gives a correct image of an anamorphosis.
The classical anamorphoscopes, he went on to explain, were mirrors, cylindrical or conical, usually, which when placed on or otherwise near a deliberately distorted picture, and viewed from the appropriate direction, would make the image appear “normal” again.
2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 280
Origin
- Englishanamorphosis
- Proto-Indo-European*speḱ-
- Proto-Indo-European*spéḱyeti
- Proto-Hellenic*sképt͏̌omai
- Ancient Greekσκέπτομαι (sképtomai)
- Ancient Greekσκοπός (skopós)
- Ancient Greekσκοπέω (skopéō)
- Englishanamorphoscope
From anamorphosis + -scope.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
anamorphoscope. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anamorphoscope
MLA
“anamorphoscope.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anamorphoscope. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anamorphoscope,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anamorphoscope.
Source: anamorphoscope on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.