iris
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
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Etymology: Etymology tree
Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris)bor.
Latin irisbor.
English iris
From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). If so, it would be cognate to English wire.
Inflected forms:
form: irises
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: iris
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: irides
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: irises
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: irising
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: irised
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: irised
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
pos: noun
examples: Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
gloss: The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye (See Iris (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
pos: noun
gloss: A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
pos: noun
gloss: A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light.
pos: noun
tags: poetic
gloss: A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
pos: noun
gloss: The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
pos: noun
gloss: To open or close in the manner of an iris.
pos: verb
gloss: To cause (something) to shine with the colours of the rainbow; to make iridescent.
pos: verb
tags: literary
examples: Pure, transparent, glistening in the sun, and irised by a thousand hues, which float and wave and spread in graceful and ceaseless motion on its surface!
The sun as it comes indoors out of space
Has left a rainbow irising each glass—
A refraction, caught then multiplied
From the crystal tied within our window,
Related words: iridal
iridescent
iridial
iridian
iridium
iridocyclitis
iridology
iritic
iritis
Derived words: autoiris
bearded iris
beardless iris
bowltube iris
copper iris
Dutch iris
German iris
intraoperative floppy iris syndrome
irid-
irido-
Iris
irisate
irisated
iriscope
iris diaphragm
iris dilator muscle
iris in
irisless
irislike
irisology
iris out
iris pigmented epithelium
irisresorcinol
iris sawfly
iris shot
iris-skipper
Japanese iris
rabbit-ear iris
Siberian iris
Spanish iris
stinking iris
xiphium iris
yellow iris
irised
Translations: