translucent

Allowing light to pass through, but diffusing it.

Adjective

  1. Allowing light to pass through, but diffusing it.
    • Near-synonym: semitransparent
    • The window-panes, encrusted with perennial deposits of Atmosphere, were less transparent than translucent. - 1913, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter 1, in The Day of Days:
    • On the windows of the nearer buildings the sun cast glittering beams, but further away a faint, translucent mist hid the city. - 1921, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 21, in Jill the Reckless:

    Synonyms: semitransparent

    Coordinate Terms: opaque transparent

  2. Clear, lucid, or transparent.
    • Mr. Blaine's powers and disposition shone resplendent. . . . the gavel in his practised hand, chiming in with varied tones that aptly enforced his words, from the sharp rat-tat-tat that recalled the House to decorum, to...
    • I thought you'd come round to my view, but I own I was startled at your not seeing it from the beginning. The man is a translucent liar and knave. - 1904 June 11 and 18, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “The Singular...
    • [T]he sun was in its greatest splendor, and the air was absolutely translucent. The lake and the mountains sprang out, sharp and clear. - 1919, Joseph A. Altsheler, chapter 3, in The Lords of the Wild:

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-t Proto-Indo-European *térh₂t Proto-Indo-European *-ónts Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂ónts Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂n̥ts Proto-Italic *trāns Proto-Italic *trāns- Latin trāns- Proto-Indo-European *lewk- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *lowkéyeti Proto-Italic *loukeō Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Italic *loukēō Latin lūceō Latin trānslūceō Latin trānslūcēnsbor. English translucent From Latin trānslūcentem, accusative of trānslūcēns, present participle of trānslūcēre.

Forms

more translucent most translucent

Synonyms

semitransparent semipellucid semiopaque through-shine tralucent translucent

Antonyms

opaque transparent turbid

Hyponyms

frosted milky semidiaphanous sheer nacreous opalescent opaline pearlescent

Related

translucence translucency

Derived

nontranslucent papulotranslucent radiotranslucent semitranslucent subtranslucent translucently

Noun

  1. Something that is translucent.
    • They can be obtained in various thicknesses and in many colors, including beautiful imitations of pearl, mother-of-pearl, veins and mottles, stratifications, roll stratifications, imitation corals, and all colors of...
    • The trademark LaCie «eye» is back, metal is in the house and the translucents are finally in the trash. - 2002 October, Neil Poulton, quotee, “LaCie ‘d2’ drives”, in David Flynn, editor, APC, number 286, Sydney, N.S.W.:...
    • These could be the raw material of both the massive cold phase, the giant molecular clouds and complexes through their connections with the translucent clouds, and also by ionization the warm medium. They and the...

    Coordinate Terms: opaque transparent

Forms

translucents