monocle

M3O1N1O1C3L1E1
Canada/ˈmɑnəkəl/

noun

A single lens, usually in a wire frame, and used to correct vision for only one eye.

Similar
eyeglass
OriginFrench monocle ← Late Latin monoculus →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nounmonocle (plural monocles)

plural monocles

  1. A single lens, usually in a wire frame, and used to correct vision for only one eye.
  2. obsoleteA one-eyed animal.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounlens for correcting defective vision in one eye; held in place by facial muscles

Similar
eyeglass
Broader
lenslenselens system
Also see
eyeglass

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Late Latinmonoculus“one-eyed”
  2. Frenchmonocle
  3. Englishmonocle

1886, borrowed from French monocle, from Late Latin monoculus (“one-eyed”), from mono- (“single”) + oculus (“eye”).

More words from French, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian монокъл
  • монокъл (monokăl)a single lens
Chinese Mandarin 單片眼鏡 /单片眼镜, 單眼鏡 /单眼镜
  • 單片眼鏡 /单片眼镜 (dānpiànyǎnjìng)a single lens
  • 單眼鏡 /单眼镜 (dānyǎnjìng)a single lens
  • 單透鏡 /单透镜 (dāntòujìng)a single lens
Czech monokl
  • monokla single lens
Danish monokel
  • monokela single lens
Dutch monocle
  • monoclea single lens
Esperanto monoklo
  • monokloa single lens
Finnish monokkeli
  • monokkelia single lens
French monocle
  • monoclea single lens
German Monokel
  • Monokela single lens
Greek μονόκλ
  • μονόκλ (monókl)a single lens
Hungarian monokli
  • monoklia single lens
Icelandic einglyrni
  • einglyrnia single lens
Irish leathspéacla
  • leathspéaclaa single lens
Italian monocolo
  • monocoloa single lens
Japanese 片眼鏡
  • 片眼鏡 (katamegane)a single lens
Korean 단안경
  • 단안경 (danan'gyeong)a single lens
Norwegian Bokmål monokkel
  • monokkela single lens
Polish monokl
  • monokla single lens
Portuguese monóculo
  • monóculoa single lens
Romanian monoclu
  • monoclua single lens
Russian моно́кль
  • моно́кль (monóklʹ)a single lens
Spanish monóculo
  • monóculoa single lens
Swedish monokel
  • monokela single lens
Vietnamese kính một mắt
  • kính một mắta single lens

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

McLoone
Cite this entry
APA

monocle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monocle

MLA

“monocle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monocle. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monocle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monocle.

Source: monocle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.