What does "lens" mean?

1. (optical glass) a curved piece of glass or plastic used in glasses, cameras, or telescopes to make things look clearer or larger. 2. (part of the eye) the clear part inside your eye that helps you focus on what you are looking at. 3. (a way of looking at something) a particular way of seeing or thinking about a situation. 4. (computing) a tool in some computer languages used to look at or change data inside a complex structure. 5. (to film) to record or shoot a movie.

lens

n. · v.

US //ˈɫɛnz// lens

1 optical glass (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a curved piece of glass or plastic used in glasses, cameras, or telescopes to make things look clearer or larger.

a transparent optical device, typically made of glass or plastic, that focuses or disperses light through refraction.

Example

He cleaned his camera lens carefully before taking a photo of the mountains.

Example

The optometrist determined that a stronger corrective lens was necessary to compensate for the patient's worsening astigmatism.
- glass
- optic
2 part of the eye (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Anatomy

the clear part inside your eye that helps you focus on what you are looking at.

the transparent, biconvex structure behind the iris that changes shape to focus light onto the retina.

Example

As people get older, the lens in the eye can become less flexible.

Example

Cataract surgery involves the removal of the clouded natural lens and the insertion of a clear artificial substitute.
- crystalline lens

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3 a way of looking at something (n.)
C1 Advanced Academic

a particular way of seeing or thinking about a situation.

a figurative perspective or conceptual framework through which a subject is analysed or perceived.

Example

We should look at this problem through the lens of social justice.

Example

The historian examined the industrial revolution through the lens of environmental impact rather than purely economic growth.
4 computing (n.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

a tool in some computer languages used to look at or change data inside a complex structure.

a functional programming construct used to access and update nested data structures in a composable way.

Example

The developer used a lens to update the user's address deep inside the database object.

Example

By using lenses, the programmer could modify deeply nested state properties without manually destructuring the entire immutable object tree.
- functional reference
5 to film (v.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Theatre

to record or shoot a movie.

to film or photograph a motion picture or scene.

Example

The director decided to lens the entire movie in black and white.

Example

The production was lensed on location in Iceland to take advantage of the unique natural light and dramatic landscapes.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin lēns (“lentil”), with Medieval Latin later taking on the sense of “lens”, a semantic loan from Arabic عَدْسَة (ʕadsa, “lentil; optic lens”).