Vitreous
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The vitreous humor. uncountable, usually
- 1 Of or resembling glass; glassy.
"Pressing his fingertips against the rippled, vitreous surface, he had the odd sensation that were he to apply sufficient pressure the glass would give way like a permeable membrane, and he would be able to pass right through it, but when he pushed harder, the surface remained cold and unyielding."
- 2 Of or relating to the vitreous humor of the eye.
- 3 Having a shiny nonporous surface.
- 4 Of a semi-crystalline substance where the atoms exhibit short-range order, but without the long-range order of a crystal.
- 5 With a glass-like texture, often referring to volcanic rocks that cooled too quickly for crystals to form.
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Positive (of electric charge). dated
- 1 (of ceramics) having the surface made shiny and nonporous by fusing a vitreous solution to it wordnet
- 2 relating to or resembling or derived from or containing glass wordnet
- 3 of or relating to or constituting the vitreous humor of the eye wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Pressing his fingertips against the rippled, vitreous surface, he had the odd sensation that were he to apply sufficient pressure the glass would give way like a permeable membrane, and he would be able to pass right through it, but when he pushed harder, the surface remained cold and unyielding."
Etymology
From Middle French vitreux, from Latin vitreus (“glassy, transparent”), from vitrum (“glass”). The terms vitreous (positive) and resinous (negative) electricity were coined in 1733 by Charles François de Cisternay du Fay, who studied the different behaviour of glass and resin when rubbed with silk and fur, respectively.
Related phrases
More for "vitreous"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.