catopter

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek κάτοπτρον (kátoptron, “mirror”).

Noun

catopter (plural catopters)

1. (obsolete) A reflecting optical glass or instrument; a mirror.
   • 1885, C.M. Van Wagenen, A Catagraph:

     My Cat whose black fur was so glossy and fine Her use of Catharon one well could divine. Almost indeed a Catopter she showed.

   • 2000, Siberian Russian Student Workshops on Electron Devices and Materials, page 72:

     For example, at research of an interference electromagnetic field near to a catopter on the metered reflectivity it is possible to define a permittivity and width of a dielectric slice.

   • 2002, AD Bialik, IA Voronin, AM Zlobin, “Temperature dependences of fibre-optical sensors of mechanical values”, in Proceedings. 3rd Annual Siberian Russian Workshop on Electron Devices and Materials (EDM):

     Then on a catopter MSD the vacuum ion-beam deposition of aluminium (hAl = 0,5 microns) was carried out.

2. A unit of measure of the converging power of a curved mirror, equal to the reciprocal of the focal length in meters; a diopter applied to a curved reflective surface as opposed to a lens.
   • 1916, James John Lewis, State Board Examinations: Questions and Answers, page 41:

     This focus divided into 40", gives the catopters.

   • 1923, Eric G. Tavs, Questions and Answers in Optometry, page 23:

     A catopter mirror will reflect parallel rays of light to a focus at a distance of one meter or 40 inches.

   • 1934, Alf Henry Johnsen, Bertram A. Weeks, Frederick H. Weller, The Optical Shop and Counter, page 19:

     The converging or diverging power of a mirror is expressed in terms of a catopter.

3. An Ancient Greek anal dilator or speculum.
   • 1897, W.L Reid, “President's Address: The History, Forms, and Theories of the Vaginal Speculum”, in Transactions of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow, volume 1, page 119:

     Hippocrates (B.C. 432) described an instrument, the catopter, which was undoubtedly used as an anal speculum,

   • 1972, S. Drobni, M. Fehér, Recent Progress in the Study of Disorders of the Colon and Rectum, page 102:

     In the course of excavations undertaken in Pompei, such catopters had been found in "the house of surgeons".

   • 2013, Michael E. Moran, Urolithiasis: A Comprehensive History, page 246:

     Hippocrates' treatise on fistulas clearly mentions this technique, and later, Galen's Levicom refers to the catopter which is an anal speculum.

   • 2020, Maria Gerolemou, Lilia Diamantopoulou, Mirrors and Mirroring from Antiquity to the Early Modern Period:

     the catopter, which is called the anal dilator, in the same way as the diopter is called the female dilator.

Synonyms

• catoptron

Anagrams

• attercop, capretto