cornea
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cornea
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin cornea ( tēla, later tunica ) horny (web or tunic), feminine of corneus corneous
Explanation
Your cornea is part of your eyeball — specifically, it's the clear layer that covers your whole iris and pupil. Without a cornea (or two), you wouldn't be able to see. This transparent dome focuses light as it passes through, as well as protecting the rest of the eye from injury. If you've ever gotten a little scratch on your eyeball, that's called a corneal abrasion and it usually heals itself quickly. The Latin root of cornea means "horn-like web or sheath," from an ancient Greek belief that it resembled a thin slice of an animal's horn.
Vocabulary lists containing cornea
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
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Man Made Monsters
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another company, New York-based Cornea, harnesses AI to feed geographical and topographical data into its maps that can lay out potential fire behaviour, says chief executive Josh Mendelsohn.
From BBC • Aug. 3, 2023
Cornea transplants can also be done, though “in dogs, we do these to save an eye from rupturing to save vision — not to improve vision, as in people,” Dr. Beale said.
From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2017
Cornea tissue can give the gift of sight to someone who needs it.
From Washington Times • Apr. 5, 2015
Professor Paul Payrau of Paris has been doing just that, he told a World Congress on the Cornea in Washington.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cornea: the outer surface of the compound eye as a whole, and of each individual facet.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
