Dictionary.com

hyaline

[ noun hahy-uh-leen, -lin; adjective hahy-uh-lin, -lahyn ]
/ noun ˈhaɪ əˌlin, -lɪn; adjective ˈhaɪ ə lɪn, -ˌlaɪn /
Save This Word!

noun
Also hy·a·lin [hahy-uh-lin]. /ˈhaɪ ə lɪn/. Biochemistry.
  1. a horny substance found in hydatid cysts, closely resembling chitin.
  2. 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.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of hyaline

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

OTHER WORDS FROM hyaline

sub·hy·a·lin, adjectivesub·hy·a·line, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hyaline in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hyaline

hyaline
/ (ˈhaɪəlɪn) /

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
FEEDBACK