Iris

  1. Proper noun.  (Greek god) A messenger of the gods, and goddess of rainbows.
  2. Proper noun.  (given name, female) ; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century.
  3. Proper noun.  (astronomy) (w, 7 Iris) , an asteroid.
  4. Noun.  (botany) A plant of the genus ''Iris'', common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms.
  5. Noun.  (anatomy) The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye.
  6. Noun.  (photography, cinematography) A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
  7. Noun.  (poetic) A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light.
  8. Verb.  (of an aperture, lens or door) To open or close in the manner of an iris.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.