John Scopes

Scopes

[skohps]
noun
John Thomas, 1901–70, U.S. high-school teacher whose teaching of the Darwinian theory of evolution became a cause célèbre (Scopes Trial or Monkey Trial) in 1925.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

scope
"extent," 1534, "room to act," from It. scopo "aim, purpose, object, thing aimed at, mark, target," from L. scopus, from Gk. skopos "aim, target, watcher," from PIE *spek- "to observe" (cf. Skt. spasati "sees;" Avestan spasyeiti "spies;" Gk. skopein "behold, look, consider," skeptesthai "to look at;"
L. specere "to look at;" O.H.G. spehhon "to spy," Ger. spähen "to spy"). Sense of "distance the mind can reach, extent of view" first recorded c.1600.

scope
"instrument for viewing," 1872, abstracted from telescope, microscope, etc., from Gk. skopein "to look" (see scope (1)). Earlier used as a shortening of horoscope (c.1600). The verb is recorded from 1807.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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00:10
John scopes is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Slang Dictionary

scope (on) (so) definition


  1. tv. & in.
    to evaluate a member of the opposite sex visually. : He scoped every girl who came in the door.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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