US /ˈvɪtriəs/ UK /ˈvɪtriəs/
adj Freq #66540

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    made of, resembling, or having the qualities of glass

    The lava cooled into a dark vitreous rock with a glassy surface.

  2. 2
    adj

    relating to the transparent gel that fills the eyeball behind the lens

    The injury caused blood to enter the vitreous chamber of the eye.

  3. 3
    adj

    made hard, smooth, and nonporous by firing or fusion

    The kiln produced a dense vitreous ceramic that absorbed very little water.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · made of, resembling, or... glassyglasslike
2 adj · relating to the transparent... vitreal
3 adj · made hard, smooth, and... vitrified
Opposites
Word family
Derived forms vitreouslyvitreousness
Related forms vitreous humorvitrifyvitrum

Etymology

From Middle French vitreux, from Latin vitreus ("of glass, glassy"), from vitrum ("glass"). The transparent body of the eye was called vitreous because its clear, gel-like substance was compared with glass.

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