retina
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retina
- /ˈɹɛt.ɪ.nə/ UK
- /ˈɹɛt.ə.nə/ US
- /ˈɹɛt.nə/ US
Rhymes with -ɛtɪnə
Where it comes from
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.
noun retinas · retinae · retinæ
- 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: retinal, tomograph, web, mudpuppy, network, decussate, reattached, neural retina, photoreceptor layer, nervous tunic, ocular fundus, neuroretina, neuroretinitis, neuroretinopathy, optic nerve, protoreceptor
Translations
Every language
noun thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
| Español | retina |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 망막 mangmak |
| 日本語 | 網膜 mōmaku |
| 中文 | 視網膜 /视网膜 shìwǎngmó, 網膜 /网膜 wǎngmó |
| हिन्दी | रेटिना reṭinā |
| Português | retina |
| Français | rétine |
| Deutsch | Netzhaut, Retina |
| Italiano | retina |
| Ελληνικά | αμφιβληστροειδής amfivlistroeidís |
| Română | retină |
| Русский | сетча́тка setčátka, рети́на retína |
| Tiếng Việt | võng mạc, màng lưới |
| العربية | شَبَكِيَّة عَيْن šabakiyyat ʕayn, شَبَكِيَّة šabakiyya |
| עברית | רִשְׁתִּית rishtít |
Talk about this word "retina." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/retina. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. retina. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/retina "retina." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/retina.Cite this
@misc{retina_2026,
title = {retina},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/retina},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
