'monoscopic' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'monos' and 'skopikos', where 'monos' meant 'single' and 'skopein' (via 'skop-') meant 'to look' or 'to examine'.

'monoscopic' was formed in scientific/technical contexts by combining the Greek-derived prefix 'mono-' and the combining form '-scopic' (from Greek/Latin scientific vocabulary) and entered English usage as a technical adjective describing single-view imaging.

Initially, the components meant 'single' and 'to look'; the combined term came to mean 'pertaining to single-view observation or imaging' and has retained that technical sense.