noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/əˈsɪl.ɪ.skəʊp/
UK:/ˈɒˌsɪl.ɪ.skəʊp/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AO2 S IH1 L AH0 S K OW2 P
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An electronic measuring instrument that creates a visible two-dimensional graph, on a screen, of one or more continuously varying voltages or currents.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
electronic equipment that provides visual images of varying electrical quantities
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: scope, cathode-ray oscilloscope, CRO
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: electronic equipment
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English oscillo- Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Hellenic *sképťomai Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Hellenic *-ós ▲ Ancient Greek -ος (-os)influ. Ancient Greek -ός (-ós) Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō)der. English -scope English oscilloscope From oscillo- + -scope.
Across languages
Translations
46 source translations are retained for this English entry.