transparency

[ trans-pair-uhn-see, -par- ]
See synonyms for transparency on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural trans·par·en·cies.
  1. Also trans·par·ence. the quality or state of being transparent.

  2. something transparent, especially a picture, design, or the like on glass or some translucent substance, made visible by light shining through from behind.

  1. Photography.

    • the proportion of the light that is passed through the emulsion on an area of a photographic image.

    • a photographic print on a clear base for viewing by transmitted light.

Origin of transparency

1
From the Medieval Latin word trānspārentia, dating back to 1585–95. See transparent, -ency

Other words from transparency

  • non·trans·par·ence, noun
  • non·trans·par·en·cy, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use transparency in a sentence

  • The sun, pale in the midst of a strange sickly transparence, lighted up this outline of the Apocalypse.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
  • The long sails, passing for a moment over the sun, became lighted up with a singular glory and transparence.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
  • In working with the microscope it must be remembered that the objects are seen by transparence.

    Practical Cinematography and Its Applications | Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
  • He had had Carlisle's feelings only at second-hand, through a medium perhaps wanting in transparence.

    V. V.'s Eyes | Henry Sydnor Harrison
  • Their rosy color seems to show that their texture has less density and more transparence.

    Beauty | Alexander Walker

British Dictionary definitions for transparency

transparency

/ (trænsˈpærənsɪ, -ˈpɛər-) /


nounplural -cies
  1. Also called: transparence the state of being transparent

  2. Also called: slide a positive photograph on a transparent base, usually mounted in a frame or between glass plates. It can be viewed by means of a slide projector

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012