cataract

Etymology

From Middle English cataract, cateract, cataracta, from Latin cataracta (“waterfall, portcullis”), from Ancient Greek καταράκτης (kataráktēs), from καταράσσω (katarássō, “I pour down”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

cataract (plural cataracts)

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, page 563:

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

Alternative forms

• katarakt

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧ta‧ract

Noun

cataract f (plural cataracten, diminutive cataractje n)

1. cataract, waterfall
2. (medicine) cataract

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.