hyaline

[noun hahy-uh-leen, -lin; adjective hahy-uh-lin, -lahyn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hyaline ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also hy·a·lin

[hahy-uh-lin] /ˈhaɪ ə lɪn/. Biochemistry.

a horny substance found in hydatid cysts, closely resembling chitin.
a structureless, transparent substance found in cartilage, the eye, etc., resulting from the pathological degeneration of tissue.

something glassy or transparent.

adjective

of or relating to hyaline.

glassy or transparent.

of or relating to glass.

amorphous; not crystalline.

Origin of hyaline

1655–65; < Late Latin hyalinus < Greek hyálinos of glass. See hyal-, -ine¹

Related formssub·hy·a·lin, adjectivesub·hy·a·line, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hyaline

clear, thin, translucent, sheer, gauzy, glazed, icy, shiny, sleek, diaphanous, filmy, glassy, gossamer, limpid, lucid, pellucid, permeable, plain, vitreous, crystalline

Examples from the Web for hyaline

Historical Examples of hyaline

Semi-hyaline: hyaline in part only: not altogether transparent.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
The first glume is ovate-lanceolate, acute and hyaline, 1-nerved.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Grain is free, rugose, and the pericarp is hyaline and loose.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The first glume is very minute, empty, hyaline and persistent.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The third glume is hyaline, linear-oblong, 2-nerved ciliate.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

British Dictionary definitions for hyaline

hyaline

adjective

biology clear and translucent, with no fibres or granules

archaic transparent

noun

archaic a glassy transparent surface

Word Origin for hyaline

C17: from Late Latin hyalinus, from Greek hualinos of glass, from hualos glass

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

Word Origin and History for hyaline

adj.

1660s, from Latin hyalinus, from Greek hyalinos "of glass or crystal," from hyalos "glass" (see hyalo-).

hyaline in Medicine

hyaline

[hī′ə-lĭn, -līn′]

adj.

Resembling glass, as in translucence or transparency; glassy.

n.

Something that is translucent or transparent.

Variant ofhyalin