rhodopsin

[roh-dop-sin]

noun Biochemistry.

a bright-red photosensitive pigment found in the rod-shaped cells of the retina of certain fishes and most higher vertebrates: it is broken down by the action of dim light into retinal and opsin.

Origin of rhodopsin

1885–90; rhod- + Greek óps(is) sight, vision + -in²

Also called visual purple.

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

Examples from the Web for rhodopsin

Historical Examples of rhodopsin

In the outer part of the rods the visual purple or rhodopsin is found.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rhodopsin

rhodopsin

noun

a red pigment in the rods of the retina in vertebrates. It is dissociated by light into retinene, the light energy being converted into nerve signals, and is re-formed in the darkAlso called: visual purple See also iodopsin

Word Origin for rhodopsin

C20: from rhodo- + -opsis + -in

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

rhodopsin in Medicine

rhodopsin

[rō-dŏp′sĭn]

n.

A thermolabile protein that is sensitive to red light and is found in the external segments of the rods of the retina of the eye.visual purple