crystalline lens

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. a doubly convex, transparent body in the eye, situated behind the iris, that focuses incident light on the retina.

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crystalline lens British  

noun

1. a biconvex transparent elastic structure in the eye situated behind the iris, serving to focus images on the retina

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Etymology

Origin of crystalline lens

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

Grayson is blind, the result of a rare genetic disorder that stunts the development of the iris and the crystalline lens covering the eye.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2025

When light enters a new transparent medium, like the crystalline lens of your eye or the glass lens of a microscope, it is bent either away or toward the line perpendicular to the boundary surface.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Immediately behind the iris lies the crystalline lens, which focuses light images upon the retina.

From Time Magazine Archive

Since all rays of light must pass through the crystalline lens to be received upon the retina, it is easy to see how a loss of transparency results in serious impairment to the vision.

From Time Magazine Archive

How far it will alter the received views upon the subject of changes in the strength of vision, which are now attributed to alterations in the distance of the crystalline lens, cannot be foretold.

From The Galaxy, April, 1877 Vol. XXIII.—April, 1877.—No. 4. by Various