means An instrument that uses lenses to magnify objects too small to see with the naked eye, like cells, microbes, and the tiny structures of matter.

from From the Greek 'mikros' (small) joined to 'skopein' (to look at, to examine) — literally a 'small-looker.' It was coined in the early 17th century, around the same time its sky-gazing cousin the telescope got its name, by stitching together the same Greek '-scope' ending used for so many looking-devices. The word arrived alongside the early lens-grinders of the Low Countries and the curious eyes of natural philosophers who first peered into a drop of water and discovered a hidden, teeming world.