stereoscope

[ ster-ee-uh-skohp, steer- ]

noun

1. an optical instrument through which two pictures of the same object, taken from slightly different points of view, are viewed, one by each eye, producing the effect of a single picture of the object, with the appearance of depth or relief.

stereoscope

/ ˈstɪər-; ˈstɛrɪəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. an optical instrument for viewing two-dimensional pictures and giving them an illusion of depth and relief. It has a binocular eyepiece through which two slightly different pictures of the same object are viewed, one with each eye

stereoscope

/ stĕr′ē-ə-skōp′ /

1. An optical instrument through which two slightly different images (typically photographs) of the same scene are presented, one to each eye, providing an illusion of three dimensions. Modern virtual reality equipment often uses a stereoscope that presents animated, computer-generated images to the eyes, rather than photographic images.
2. ◆ A stereogram is a single pair of photographic images used in a stereograph.
3. See also stereoscopic vision

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereoscope¹

First recorded in 1830–40; stereo- + -scope

Example Sentences

Over the years, he has patented several ways to make a shallow three-dimensional picture that’s visible with the naked eye, often by strobing between two similar but incongruent frames like a kind of overlapping stereoscope.

From New York Times

It numbered 4,500 images — different size glass negatives, stereoscope and nitrate negatives, prints and more.

From Seattle Times

But to do so, De Gracia took the samples, a stereoscope, vials, a scale and many books home from her lab in Naos, near where the Panama Canal meets the Pacific Ocean.

From Seattle Times

This is where the stereoscope comes in, because, whatever you think of the system that surrounds him, Joe Burrow stands for something like hope for many of his fans in both Louisiana and Ohio.

From The New Yorker

He bought Victorian stereoscopes and backlit slide viewers and even commissioned devices of his own invention.

From New York Times