From Latin 'lens' (lentil) — early optical lenses were shaped like lentil seeds, and the legume became the name for the tool.
A piece of glass or other transparent material with curved sides for concentrating or dispersing light rays. The transparent biconvex body behind the iris of the eye that focuses light onto the retina. Figuratively: a way of seeing or understanding something.
From Latin lens (lentil, a lentil plant), genitive lentis. The optical instrument was named after the lentil because a convex glass lens has exactly the shape of a lentil seed — a biconvex disc, thicker at the centre and thinner at the edges. Latin lens derives from PIE *lend- (lentil), the same root underlying Old High German linsi, Old English lēosende (lentil), and Lithuanian lęšis. The transfer of the word from legume to optics occurred
In French, German, Italian, and Spanish, the word for 'lens' is still transparently the word for 'lentil': French 'lentille,' German 'Linse,' Italian 'lente,' Spanish 'lente' — all mean both 'lentil' and 'optical lens.' If you order lentil soup in France, you are eating 'soupe aux lentilles' — literally 'lens soup.' The humble legume gave its name to the instrument that made telescopes, microscopes, eyeglasses, and cameras
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