Irises

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Iris \I"ris\, n.; pl. E. {Irises}, L. {Irides}. [L. iris,
     iridis, the goddess, Gr. ?, ?, the rainbow, iris of the eye,
     the plant Iris. Cf. {Orris}.]
     1. (Class. Myth.) The goddess of the rainbow, and
        swift-footed messenger of the gods. --Shak.
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     2. The rainbow. --Sir T. Browne.
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     3. An appearance resembling the rainbow; a prismatic play of
        colors. --Tennyson.
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     4. (Anat.) The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil,
        and forming the colored portion of the eye. See {Eye}.
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     5. (Bot.) A genus of plants having showy flowers and bulbous
        or tuberous roots, of which the flower-de-luce
        (fleur-de-lis), orris, and other species of flag are
        examples. See Illust. of {Flower-de-luce}.
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     6. (Her.) See {Fleur-de-lis}, 2.
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     7. (Zool.) the inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     8. same as {iris diaphragm}.
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