retina

CEFRC1

/ˈɹɛt.ɪ.nə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball that contains rods and cones sensitive to light, which trigger nerve impulses that pass via the optic nerve to the brain, where a visual image is formed.

Examples

  • The image projected onto the retina is inverted.

  • The security system scanned Tom's retina.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The optometrist used a camera to photograph the blank at the back of the eye.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English rethina, borrowing from Medieval Latin rētīna (“retina”, feminine noun), ellipsis of tunica rētīna (“net-like tunic”), used to describe the blood vessel system at the back of the eye. The phrase is attested in the 12th century in Guillelmus the abbot and Gerard of Cremona—the latter may have created this phrase as a translation for Arabic طَبَقَة شَبَكِيَّة (ṭabaqa šabakiyya) "net-like layer", which translates Ancient Greek ἀμφιβληστροειδής χῐτών (amphiblēstroeidḗs khĭtṓn, “retina”), which is attested in the ancient medical writer Galen.