A device that examines or reads something systematically, especially one that converts physical documents or images into digital format. Can also refer to medical imaging equipment.
From Latin scandere meaning 'to climb' via the sense of 'examining systematically'. The modern technological meaning developed in the 1960s with the advent of electronic scanning devices.
The word beautifully evolved from its poetic origins - 'scanning' verse meant examining its rhythmic pattern, which led to any systematic examination, and finally to machines that examine documents line by line.
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