Definition of "spectroscopy" [spec•tros•co•py]

• Study of spectra, especially experimental observation of optical spectra. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Her skills in spectroscopy have allowed her to assemble a large library of synthetic spectra that has aided many other researchers in their investigations of our own and other galaxies."
• "Using a metaphor, magnetic resonance spectroscopy is like listening to a radio broadcast of a symphony in the 1940s."
• "A chance encounter in 1971 set off a chain of experiments that would move NMR spectroscopy from a tool chemists use to solve structures to one that doctors could use to create detailed images of internal organs."