cataract

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a clouding of the eye's natural lens that impairs vision

   The surgeon removed the cataract and replaced the cloudy lens.

2. 2
   noun

   a large or powerful waterfall, especially one descending over a steep drop

   Mist rose from the cataract as the river plunged into the gorge.

3. 3
   noun

   a violent rush or downpour of water; literary

   A cataract of rain swept loose branches down the flooded street.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Cataract comes from Latin cataracta, from Greek kataraktes “rushing down.” The Latin word meant both “waterfall or floodgate” and “portcullis”; the first sense produced the word for a large waterfall, while the portcullis sense probably inspired the name for a clouding that blocks vision.

From Middle English and Old French cataracte, ultimately from Greek katarrhaktes, 'something rushing down; waterfall; portcullis,' through Latin cataracta. The eye sense compares the opaque lens to a barrier or portcullis blocking sight; the waterfall sense preserves the Greek image of water rushing downward.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary