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iris

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Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek *ϝῖρις (*wîris)

Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris)bor.

Latin eira

Latin ira

Latin irisbor.

English iris

From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). If so, it would be cognate to English wire.

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Online Etymology Dictionary: The eye region was so called (early 15c. in English) for being the part that gives color to the eye; the Greek word was used of any brightly colored circle, "as that round the eyes of a peacock's tail" [Liddell & Scott]”

Pronunciation

enPR: ī'rĭs
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/
  - Audio (California): (file)
- (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/, [ˈʌɪ.ɹɪs]
- (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɪ.ɹɪs/
Rhymes: -aɪɹɪs

Noun

iris (plural irises or iris or irides) (See Usage notes)

(botany) A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
Synonym: fleur-de-lis
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168:
  Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
(anatomy) The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye (See Iris (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
(photography, cinematography) A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
(poetic) A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light.
(electronics) A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
(zoology) The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.

Usage notes

For the part of the eye, the most common plural is irises, though irides is usual in medical contexts.
For the flower both iris and irises are in common use.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:iris.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

plant of the genus Iris

Afrikaans: iris
Armenian: հիրիկ (hy) (hirik)
Bulgarian: ирис (bg) m (iris), перуника f (perunika)
Catalan: lliri (ca) m, iris (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鳶尾花 / 鸢尾花 (zh) (yuānwěi huā)
Cornish: elester (collective), elestren f
Czech: kosatec (cs) m
Danish: iris (da) c
Dutch: lis (nl) m or n, iris (nl) m or f
Faroese: mækja f
Finnish: kurjenmiekka (fi)
French: iris (fr) m
Galician: lirio (gl) m
Georgian: ზამბახი (zambaxi)
German: Iris (de) f, Schwertlilie (de) f
Greek: ίρις (el) f (íris)
Hebrew: אִירוּס (he) m (írus)
Hungarian: nőszirom (hu), írisz (hu)
Irish: glóiriam m, ireas m
Italian: iris (it) m, giaggiolo (it) m
Japanese: 菖蒲 (ja) (あやめ, ayame)
Kazakh: qūrtqaşaş sg, құртқашаш sg (qūrtqaşaş)
Korean: 붓꽃 (ko) (butkkot), 창포 (ko) (changpo)
Latvian: īriss (lv) m
Lithuanian: vilkdalgis m
Macedonian: перуника f (perunika), ирис m (iris)
Maori: mīkoikoi
Middle English: flourdelis
Navajo: niteel bitʼąąʼ łánígíí
Norwegian: sverdlilje m or f, mækje m or f
Persian: زنبق (fa) (zanbaq)
Plautdietsch: Schelplelje f
Polish: irys (pl) m, kosaciec (pl) m
Portuguese: íris (pt) m
Romanian: iris (ro) m, stânjen (ro) m, stânjenel (ro) m
Russian: и́рис (ru) m (íris), каса́тик (ru) m (kasátik)
Scottish Gaelic: seileastair m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: и̑рис m, перу̀ника f

Roman: ȋris (sh) m, perùnika (sh) f
Slovene: perunika f
Spanish: lirio (es) m
Swahili: airisi
Swedish: iris (sv) c
Telugu: కంటిపాప (te) (kaṇṭipāpa)
Turkish: süsen (tr), iris (tr)
Vietnamese: diên vĩ (vi)
Yiddish: איריס (iris)

part of the eye

Afrikaans: reënboogvlieg
Arabic: قُزَحِيَّة f (quzaḥiyya)
Egyptian Arabic: قزحية f (quzaḥeya), سواد العين m (sawād el-ʕein)
Armenian: ծիածանաթաղանթ (hy) (ciacanatʻaġantʻ), ակնածիածան (hy) (aknaciacan)
Basque: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: ирис (bg) m (iris)
Burmese: မျက်ဝန်း (my) (myak-wan:), မျက်နက် (my) (myaknak)
Catalan: iris (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 虹膜 (zh) (hóngmó), 虹彩 (zh) (hóngcǎi)
Cornish: byw an lagas, iris ?
Czech: duhovka (cs) f
Danish: regnbuehinde (da), iris (da) c
Dutch: regenboogvlies (nl) n, iris (nl) m or f
Esperanto: iriso
Faroese: lithinna f
Finnish: värikalvo (fi), iiris (fi)
French: iris (fr) m
Galician: iris (gl) m
Georgian: თვალის გარსი (tvalis garsi), ფერადი გარსი (peradi garsi)
German: Iris (de) f, Regenbogenhaut (de) f
Greek: ίρις (el) f (íris), ίριδα (el) f (írida)
Hebrew: קַשְתִית (he) f (kashtít)
Hungarian: szivárványhártya (hu), írisz (hu)
Irish: imreasc (ga) m, inteachán m, seall m
Italian: iride (it) f
Japanese: 虹彩 (ja) (こうさい, kōsai)
Kazakh: nūrly qabyq sg
Khmer: ប្រស្រី (prɑsrəy), អក្ខិ (km) (akkʰe’), កែវភ្នែក (kaev pnɛɛk), អក្សិតារា (akse’ taaraa)
Korean: 홍채 (ko) (hongchae)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: rengîne f
Latvian: varavīksnene f
Lithuanian: rainelė f
Macedonian: шареница f (šarenica)
Malayalam: കൃഷ്ണപടലം (kr̥ṣṇapaṭalaṁ)
Maori: tiwha
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Navajo: anázhiin
Norwegian:
Bokmål: regnbuehinne m or f, iris (no) m

Nynorsk: regnbogehinne f, iris m
Persian: عنبیه (fa) ('enabiye)
Polish: tęczówka (pl) f
Portuguese: íris (pt) m
Romanian: iris (ro) n
Russian: ра́дужная оболо́чка (ru) f (rádužnaja obolóčka), ра́дужка (ru) f (rádužka), и́рис (ru) m (íris)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: и̑рис m, шарѐница f, ду̏жица f

Roman: ȋris (sh) m, šarènica (sh) f, dȕžica (sh) f
Slovene: šarenica (sl) f
Spanish: iris (es) m
Swedish: iris (sv) c, regnbågshinna (sv) c
Tagalog: alikmata (tl), inlaan, bahay-balintataw
Thai: ม่านตา (mâan-dtaa)
Turkish: iris (tr)
Vietnamese: mống mắt
Volapük: lirid (vo)
Yiddish: איריס (iris)

photography, cinematography: diaphragm

Bulgarian: бленда (bg) f (blenda)
Finnish: himmennin (fi), aukko (fi)
French: iris (fr) m
Hungarian: írisz (hu)
Romanian: iris (ro) n
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бле̑нда f

Roman: blȇnda (sh) f

Verb

iris (third-person singular simple present irises, present participle irising, simple past and past participle irised)

(of an aperture, lens, or door) To open or close in the manner of an iris.
(literary) To cause (something) to shine with the colours of the rainbow; to make iridescent.
Synonym: iridize
- 1834, Jacob Abbott, chapter 1, in The Corner-Stone‎, Boston: William Peirce, page 31:
  Pure, transparent, glistening in the sun, and irised by a thousand hues, which float and wave and spread in graceful and ceaseless motion on its surface!
- 1987, Charles Tomlinson, “Winter Journey”, in The Return‎, Oxford University Press, page 35:
  The sun as it comes indoors out of space
  Has left a rainbow irising each glass—
  A refraction, caught then multiplied
  From the crystal tied within our window,