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cataract . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
cataract , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
cataract in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
cataract you have here. The definition of the word
cataract will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
cataract , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Devil's Throat, Iguaçu fall's largest cataract (2)
Etymology
From Middle English cataract , cateract , cateracte , cataracta , from Latin cataracta ( “ waterfall, portcullis ” ) , from Ancient Greek καταρράκτης ( katarrháktēs ) , from καταράσσω ( katarássō , “ I pour down ” ) , from κατα- ( kata- , “ down ” ) + ἀράσσω ( arássō , “ to strike, dash ” ) . Its pathological sense probably came from its alternative sense in Latin, “portcullis”, through French through the notion of “obstruction”, in this case, of vision.
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈkætəɹækt/
Audio (Southern England) (file )
Noun
cataract (plural cataracts )
( obsolete ) A waterspout .
A large waterfall ; steep rapids in a river.
The cataracts on the Nile helped to compartment Upper Egypt.
A flood of water .
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
( figuratively ) An overwhelming downpour or rush .
His cataract of eloquence
1842 , Alfred Tennyson , “The Day-Dream . The Revival.”, in Poems. , volume II, London: Edward Moxon , , →OCLC , page 156 :The palace bang’d, and buzz’d and clackt, / And all the long-pent stream of life / Dash’d downward in a cataract .
2022 May 19, James Verini , “Surviving the Siege of Kharkiv”, in The New York Times Magazine :As if on cue came a cataract of explosions. She turned on her heel and scurried back to the courtyard and down into the school’s basement. The dirt floor, low ceiling and unfinished stone walls were barely illuminated by candles and a dim string of green decorative lights.
( pathology ) A clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision .
1999 , J. J. Gallo, J. Busby-Whitehead, W. Reichel, P. V. Rabins, R. A. Silliman, Reichel’s Care of the Elderly , page 563 :Rarely, a dense, swollen neglected cataract precipitates an angle-closure glaucoma.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
opacity of the lens in the eye
Bikol Central: muting
Bulgarian: перде́ (bg) n ( perdé ) , катарáкт m ( katarákt )
Catalan: cataracta f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 白內障 / 白内障 (zh) ( báinèizhàng )
Czech: šedý zákal (cs) m , katarakta f
Dutch: cataract (nl) m or n or f , grijze staar
Faroese: eygnastar n
Finnish: kaihi (fi)
French: cataracte (fr) f
Galician: belida (gl) f , catarata (gl) f , pano (gl) m ( animals )
German: Katarakt (de) m , grauer Star m ( colloquial )
Greek: καταρράκτης (el) m ( katarráktis )
Ancient: γλαύκωμα n ( glaúkōma )
Hungarian: hályog (hu) , szürke hályog (hu) , katarakta (hu)
Icelandic: ský á auga n
Ilocano: busa
Irish: fionn m
Italian: cataratta (it) f
Ivatan: ruhaw
Japanese: 白内障 ( はくないしょう, hakunaishō )
Khmer: ទឹកធ្លាក់ ( tɨk tleak )
Macedonian: перде n ( perde )
Malayalam: തിമിരം (ml) ( timiraṁ )
Middle English: cataract
Navajo: anázhiin yiibaʼ
Persian: آبمروارید (fa) ( âb-morvârid )
Polish: bielmo (pl) n , blachmal m ( archaic )
Portuguese: catarata (pt) f
Russian: катара́кта (ru) f ( katarákta )
Scottish Gaelic: neul-sùla m
Serbo-Croatian: мрена f , mrena (sh) f
Shan: တေႃႈ (shn) ( tāu )
Spanish: catarata (es) f
Swahili: mtoto wa jicho
Swedish: katarakt (sv) , grå starr (sv)
Tagalog: katarata
Thai: กระจก (th) ( grà-jòk ) , ต้อกระจก
Tocharian B: surme
Turkish: akbasma (tr) , aksu (tr) , katarakt (tr)
Ukrainian: катара́кта f ( katarákta )
Vietnamese: cườm khô
Welsh: niwlen f
Zulu: umthuqu class 3 /4
Translations to be checked
References
Further reading
Dutch
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle Dutch cataracte , from Latin cataracta , from Ancient Greek καταρράκτης ( katarrháktēs ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˌkaː.taːˈrɑkt/
Hyphenation: ca‧ta‧ract
Rhymes: -ɑkt
Noun
cataract f (plural cataracten , diminutive cataractje n )
cataract , waterfall
( pathology ) cataract
Synonyms
Descendants
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin cataracta , from Ancient Greek καταρράκτης ( katarrháktēs ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈkatərakt(ə)/ , /ˈkatərak/ , /ˈkatəraktaː/
Noun
cataract (plural cateractes )
( medicine ) cataract
( Christianity ) A gate guarding the entrance to Heaven.
Descendants
References