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Iris
Definitions
- 1 A messenger of the gods, and goddess of rainbows. Greek
"What's the matter, That this distemper'd messenger of wet, The many-colour'd Iris, rounds thine eye?"
- 2 A female given name from Ancient Greek; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century.
"Persia tells Iris she is named for something special: the iris of the eye. "I thought I was named for a flower," Iris says, disappointed. "An iris is a flower, of course," Persia says, smiling, "but it's this other, too. Our secret. 'The iris of the eye'." "The eye?" Persia snaps her fingers in Iris's eyes. The gesture is so rude and unexpected, Iris will remember it all her life. After this disclosure, Iris doesn't know whether she likes her name any more."
- 3 7 Iris, a main belt asteroid.
- 1 A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia).
"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."
- 2 plural of IRI form-of, plural
- 3 diaphragm consisting of thin overlapping plates that can be adjusted to change the diameter of a central opening wordnet
- 4 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).
- 5 muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil which in turn controls the amount of light that enters the eye; it forms the colored portion of the eye wordnet
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- 6 A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
- 7 plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals wordnet
- 8 A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light. poetic
- 9 A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
- 10 The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
- 1 To open or close in the manner of an iris.
- 2 To cause (something) to shine with the colours of the rainbow; to make iridescent. literary
"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!"
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin eira Latin ira 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.
Etymology tree Latin eira Latin ira 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.
From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).
See also for "iris"
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