cornea
Americannoun
-
corneas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
The researchers achieved this by carefully controlling the pH gradient so the chemical changes were large enough to reshape the cornea without causing excessive damage.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
The cornea was an especially intriguing target because its precise curvature determines how effectively the eye focuses light.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
The cornea contains large amounts of collagen, a structural protein also found in skin, cartilage, tendons, and other tissues.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
In separate tests, researchers found that EMR might be able to reverse some chemical-caused cloudiness to the cornea -- a condition that is currently only treatable through a complete corneal transplant.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
It was a living eye, the cornea a little bloodshot, the eyelashes luxuriant, the skin underneath coffee- stained and pouchy.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
In those eyes, the corneas successfully achieved the intended focusing power that would correspond to improved vision.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
Mr Poole and his colleague, Hanbin Lee, have successfully given four patients artificial corneas in the past two months and initial results have shown an improvement in vision.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024
One query thread pulls in a long-vanished German national, Otis Heiss, who was admitted to the local hospital with simalar injuries as the men frozen in the ice, including burned corneas and self-inflicted bites.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2024
A new person of interest emerges in Otis Heiss, a German national with a murky record who was admitted to the hospital with burns on his corneas, ruptured eardrums and self-inflicted bite marks.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
His temples throbbed, sandy eyelids scratching his corneas.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
