cataract
pronunciation
How to pronounce cataract in British English:
UK [ˈkætərækt]
How to pronounce cataract in American English:
US [ˈkætəˌrækt]
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- Noun:
- clouding of the natural lens of the eye
- a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice
Word Origin
- cataract
- cataract: [15] Greek kataráktēs meant literally ‘swooping down, rushing down’; it was a derivative of the verb katarássein, a compound formed from the prefix katá- ‘down’ (which appears in a wide range of English words, including cataclysm, catalepsy, catalogue, catapult – literally ‘hurl down’ – and catastrophe) and the verb rássein ‘strike’.Hence it was applied metaphorically to various things that ‘rush down’, including waterfalls and portcullises. The word passed into English via Latin cataracta, and the sense ‘opacity of the eye’s lens’ developed in the 16th century, probably as a metaphorical extension of the now obsolete ‘portcullis’.
- cataract (n.)
- early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktes "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second element is traced either to arhattein "to strike hard" (in which case the compound is kat-arrhattein), or to rhattein "to dash, break." Its alternative sense in Latin of "portcullis" probably was passed through French to form the English meaning "eye disease" (early 15c.), on the notion of "obstruction" (to eyesight).
Example
- 1. Then I thought it was a cataract .
- 2. And another that looked like a cataract of hello kitty dolls .
- 3. This is a cataract - a clouding of the lens inside the eye .
- 4. And in a study of 900 chesapeake bay shellfish harvesters , those who wore sunglasses plus brimmed hats cut cataract risk by two-thirds .
- 5. A gene associated with the formation of age-related cataract , a leading cause of blindness , has been identified by scientists .