noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A light-sensitive pigment in the rod cells of the retina; it consists of an opsin protein bound to the carotenoid retinal countable, uncountable
2. 2
   a red photopigment in the retinal rods of vertebrates; dissociates into retinene by light wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

visual purpleretinal purplevisual purple

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), due to its pinkish color, and ὄψις (ópsis, “sight”).

Related phrases

rod cell

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.