Link Centre Dictionary

iris

UK/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/ US/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/ fairly common literary

noun

1.

plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals

Synonyms
2.

muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil; it forms the colored portion of the eye

3.

diaphragm consisting of thin overlapping plates that can be adjusted to change the diameter of a central opening

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”).

Phrases

  • bearded iris
  • beardless iris
  • bowltube iris
  • copper iris
  • Dutch iris
  • German iris
  • intraoperative floppy iris syndrome
  • iris diaphragm

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.