Added 8 October 2026
iris
/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/ noun
Latin root: īris Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about iris at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals.
- Muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil which in turn controls the amount of light that enters the eye; it forms the colored portion of the eye.
- Diaphragm consisting of thin overlapping plates that can be adjusted to change the diameter of a central opening.
Origin
From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). If so, it would be cognate to English wire.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)