Advertisement

Advertisement

compound eye

noun

  1. an arthropod eye subdivided into many individual, light-receptive elements, each including a lens, a transmitting apparatus, and retinal cells.


compound eye

noun

  1. the convex eye of insects and some crustaceans, consisting of numerous separate light-sensitive units (ommatidia) See also ocellus


compound eye

  1. An eye consisting of hundreds or thousands of tiny light-sensitive parts (called ommatidia), with each part serving to focus light on the retina to create a portion of an image. Most insects and some crustaceans have compound eyes.


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of compound eye1

First recorded in 1830–40

Discover More

Example Sentences

Unlike bees and flies, which have compound eyes that merge information from hundreds or thousands of lenses into a single, pixelated mosaic image, the jumping spider has camera-type eyes, similar to those of humans and most other vertebrates.

The eye of a crustacean is a very complicated structure, commonly described as a compound eye.

Looked at in front, a compound eye may be considered an agglomeration of simple eyes; but internally this is hardly correct.

Huyghens also invented the compound eye-piece that bears his name, made of two convex lenses to diminish spherical aberration.

In the first place a compound eye is formed on each side of the median eye.

On the compound eye of a butterfly as many as 17,325 facettes have been counted.

Advertisement

Word of the Day

flabbergast

[flab-er-gast ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


compound enginecompound fault