The suffix "-scope" indicates an instrument used to observe. Which option describes this meaning?

• A. Instrument used to observe
• B. Instrument used to record
• C. Instrument used to measure
• D. A disease

Answer: (A)

The suffix -scope signals an instrument used to observe. It comes from Greek skopein, meaning to look. Words ending in -scope are tools you look through or with to observe something—microscope for tiny details, telescope for distant objects, and ophthalmoscope for examining the eye. That’s why the correct meaning is “an instrument used to observe.” The other ideas point to different suffixes: recording is typically -graph, measuring is -meter, and a disease is indicated by other suffixes, not -scope.