diaphanous
pronunciation
How to pronounce diaphanous in British English:
UK [daɪˈæfənəs]
How to pronounce diaphanous in American English:
US [daɪˈæfənəs]
-
- Adjective:
- so thin as to transmit light
Word Origin
- diaphanous
- diaphanous: [17] Semantically, diaphanous is the ancestor of modern English see-through. It comes, via medieval Latin diaphanus, from Greek diaphanés, a compound adjective formed from dia- ‘through’ and the verb phaínein ‘show’. Originally in English it meant simply ‘transparent’, without its present-day connotations of delicacy: ‘Aristotle called light a quality inherent, or cleaving to a Diaphanous body’, Walter Raleigh, History of the World 1614.
- diaphanous (adj.)
- 1610s, from Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Greek diaphanes "transparent," from dia- "through" (see dia-) + phainesthai, middle voice form (subject acting on itself) of phainein "to show" (see phantasm).
Example
- 1. She wore a diaphanous garment .
- 2. Each window had its own diaphanous blind .
- 3. Marni , fendi and ferretti showed silk embellishment , diaphanous chiffon and apron dresses .
- 4. The implementer of china one-up standardization diaphanous quality project .
- 5. I remember the times when love seemed more pure and diaphanous .