cataract

English

Etymology

From Middle English cataract, cateract, cataracta, from Latin cataracta (“waterfall, portcullis”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek καταρράκτης (katarrháktēs), from καταράσσω (katarássō, “I pour down”), from κατα- (kata-, “down”) + ἀράσσω (arássō, “to strike, dash”) .

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkætəɹækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

cataract (plural cataracts)

(Sense 2) Devil's Throat, Iguaçu fall's largest cataract

1. (obsolete) A waterspout
2. A large waterfall; steep rapids in a river.

   The cataracts on the Nile helped to compartment Upper Egypt.

3. A flood of water (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. An overwhelming downpour or rush

   His cataract of eloquence

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:

     Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it?

5. (pathology) a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision.
   • 1999, J J Gallo, J Busby-Whitehead, W Reichel, P V Rabins, R A Silliman, Reichel's care of the elderly‎^[1], page 563:

     Rarely, a dense, swollen neglected cataract precipitates an angle-closure glaucoma.

Derived terms

• aftercataract
• anticataract
• cataractal
• cataractic
• cataractogenesis
• cataractogenic
• cataractogenous
• cataractous
• nuclear cataract
• postcataract

 

Translations

waterfall

• Bulgarian: водопа́д m (vodopád)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大瀑布 (zh) (dà pùbù), 瀑布 (zh) (pùbù)

• Czech: katarakt m, stupňovaný vodopád m
• Danish: vandfald (da)
• Dutch: cataract (nl) m or n or f, waterval (nl) m
• Faroese: fossur (fo) m
• Finnish: vesiputous (fi)
• French: cataracte (fr) f
• German: Katarakt (de) m
• Greek: καταρράκτης (el) m (katarráktis)

  Ancient: καταρράκτης m (katarrháktēs)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: foss (is) m
• Italian: cateratta (it), cascata (it) f, rapida (it) f
• Japanese: 瀑布 (ja) (ばくふ, bakufu)
• Khmer: ទឹកធ្លាក់ (tɨk tleak)
• Latin: cataracta f
• Maori: wairere, tāheke
• Norwegian: foss (no) m
• Portuguese: catarata (pt) f
• Romanian: cataractă (ro) f
• Russian: водопа́д (ru) m (vodopád)
• Spanish: catarata (es) f
• Swedish: vattenfall (sv) n
• Tagalog: katarata, malaking talon

downpour, flood

• Bulgarian: проливен дъжд m (proliven dǎžd), потоп (bg) m (potop)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 洪流 (zh) (hóngliú) (flood)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Dutch: stortvloed (nl)
• Japanese: 激流 (ja) (げきりゅう, gekiryū)
• Russian: ли́вень (ru) m (lívenʹ), проливно́й дождь m (prolivnój doždʹ) (torrential rain), пото́п (ru) m (potóp) (flood)

opacity of the lens in the eye

• Bulgarian: перде (bg) n (perde)
• Catalan: cataracta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 白內障／白内障 (zh) (báinèizhàng), 白内障 (zh) (báinèizhàng)

• Czech: šedý zákal (cs) m, katarakta f
• Dutch: cataract (nl) m or n or f, grijze staar
• Faroese: eygnastar n
• Finnish: kaihi (fi)
• French: cataracte (fr) f
• Galician: catarata (gl) f, pano (gl) m (animals)
• German: Katarakt (de) m, Grauer Star m
• Greek: καταρράκτης (el) m (katarráktis)

  Ancient: γλαύκωμα n (glaúkōma)

• Hungarian: hályog (hu)
• Irish: fionn m
• Italian: cataratta (it) f
• Japanese: 白内障 (はくないしょう, hakunaishō)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Khmer: ទឹកធ្លាក់ (tɨk tleak)
• Middle English: cataract
• Navajo: anázhiin yiibaʼ
• Persian: آب‌مروارید (âb-morvârid)
• Portuguese: catarata (pt) f
• Russian: катара́кта (ru) f (katarákta)
• Scottish Gaelic: neul-sùla m
• Serbo-Croatian: мрена f, mrena (sh) f
• Shan: တေႃႈ (tɔ3)
• Spanish: catarata (es) f
• Swedish: katarakt (sv), grå starr (sv)
• Thai: กระจก (th) (grà-jòk), ต้อกระจก
• Turkish: katarakt (tr)
• Vietnamese: cườm khô
• Welsh: niwlen f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 백내장 (ko) (baengnaejang)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• List_of_waterfalls_by_type on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Dutch

Alternative forms

• katarakt

Pronunciation

• audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧ta‧ract

Noun

cataract f (plural cataracten, diminutive cataractje n)

1. cataract, waterfall
2. (pathology) cataract

Synonyms

• waterval (1)
• grauwe staar (2)

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• cateract, cataracta, cataracte, catheracte, catharacte, catharacta, catterak, catarac

Etymology

From Latin cataracta, from Ancient Greek καταράκτης (kataráktēs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkatərakt(ə)/, /ˈkatərak/, /ˈkatərakta/

Noun

cataract (plural cateractes)

1. (medicine) cataract
2. (Christianity) A gate guarding the entrance to Heaven.

Descendants

• English: cataract
• Scots: cataract (rare, obsolete)

References

• “cataracte (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-20.