Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: IRISES |
IRISESPlural1. Of Iris |
Date "IRISES" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1870. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Pars pupillaris of a human iris (near the pupillary border), using false colors to highlight the epithelia (red.)In anatomy, the iris (classical plural irides) is the most visible part of the eye. It is a circular pigmented tissue containing a stroma, itself containing the sphincter around the pupil of the eye, and two layers of epithelia. In the animal kingdom, only longitudinally symmetric taxa, or chordates, have an iris. This part of the anterior pole of the eye is actively permitting the pupil to open and almost close on a continuous basis. This happens in order for the iris to control the amount of light striking the central retina. In fact, despite pigment content in its stroma and epithelia, the iris is slightly transparent, especially in its peripheral part (pars ciliaris) and at the level of stromal crypts (of Fuchs). Moreover, iris-transmitted light, which is a few orders of magnitude less intense, because of iris stromal absorption, is totally reflected on the anterior surface of the lens, and directed towards the processi dentati of the ora serrata - a region collectively named the "peripheral retina" which processes light only for non-visual purposes.
The iris is the only living tissue always visible naturally, with open eyes.
The iris is brightly pigmented, with colours ranging from red (no pigment at all, like in oculo-cutaneous albinism), to gray, green, blue, basic brown, black, and hazel. There is only one pigment that allows the human iris to absorb almost all the colours of the rainbow, and this is the black pigment called melanin. Structurally, this huge molecule is only slightly different from its equivalent pigment found in skin and hair.
A person's "eye colour" is actually the colour of her or his iris, since the cornea is transparent and the sclera is rarely if ever any other colour than white. Certain eye colours are sometimes seen as being especially attractive and motif-expressing contact lenses can be worn to mask one's natural eye colour with another. They are rarely needed and almost never recommended by serious medical doctors, unless the patient's retina needs extra protection, as in aniridia. Although there has been much fuss about finding the genes for eye colour, there is no simple genetic determinism for such a complex trait, as there is more to iris colour than pigmentation, and overall, there is no simple inheritance and consequently no serious test of paternity based on iris colour.
The occurrence of two irides with different colours is a rare situation which could also be perfectly normal and which is named heterochromia iridis. Circular sectors of strikingly different colours in the same iris happen more often and are sometimes described as heterochromia iridium.
When photographed with a flash, the iris only reacts to protect the retina, and not fast enough to avoid the red eye effect.
Acquiring the iris image, sometimes without the person's approval, and storing it in a database for purposes of identification is a biometric method used for the recognition of human individuals. This is a highly controversial method for many reasons, including that person's rights, and its reliability, reputability, and rate of false positive results. Especially controversial is the fact that the iris stromal pattern changes in time, visibly, although in many subtle ways. Therefore questions can be raised about the viability of the iris as an "immutable bar code".
See also: Iridology, Iridocyclitis, Visual system, Iris scan.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Iris (anatomy)."
Crosswords: IRISES |
| English words defined with "IRISES": bearded iris, beardless iris, bulbous iris ♦ dark-eyed junco ♦ Junco hyemalis ♦ orris, orrisroot ♦ red-eyed vireo ♦ slate-colored junco ♦ Vireo olivaceous. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "IRISES": Iris. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Now, you understand I can't just give you new irises. Because if I do, the retinal scans will read the scar tissue, alarms will go off, and large men with guns will appear (Minority Report; writing credit: Scott Frank) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Irises (1991) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
 |  |
| "Irises" by Morgon Dickerson Commentary: "Irises in front of wooden building." | "Irises and Buttercups" by Stephanie Summerfield Commentary: "These are irises with buttercups in the background." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The light seemed to go far into his brown eyes, and it picked out little golden specks deep in the irises. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "IRISES" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 88.89% of the time. "IRISES" is used about 90 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 88.89% | 80 | 37,112 |
| Noun (proper) | 8.89% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Lexical Verb (-s form) | 2.22% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 90 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
irises | 349 | irises gardening | 3 |
bearded irises | 18 | grow irises | 3 |
irises van gogh | 15 | irises plant | 3 |
growing irises | 14 | irises pruning | 3 |
irises care | 13 | irises schreiners | 3 |
irises transplanting | 11 | blue irises | 3 |
irises planting | 10 | irises garden | 2 |
irises picture | 9 | vincent van gogh irises | 2 |
siberian irises | 9 | irises lifestyle | 2 |
dividing irises | 7 | irises miniature | 2 |
flower irises | 6 | irises photo | 2 |
irises reblooming | 6 | irises garden view poster | 2 |
irises japanese | 5 | irises by van gogh | 2 |
purple irises | 4 | cooleys irises | 2 |
caring irises | 4 | tall bearded irises | 2 |
irises painting | 3 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "IRISES"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | θΉθ (IRIS). (various references) | |
German | Schwertlilien. (various references) | |
Korean | νμ± (IRIS). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | irisesay.(various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words ending with "IRISES": satirises. (additional references) | |
| |
"IRISES" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: frises, icrisat, Idrissi, Iisi, ilissus, Irie, irile, iriles, Irimescu, irisea, irisee, irisest, irisis, iriso, krises. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "IRISES" (pronounced ī"rusuz) |
| 6 | ī" r u s u z | retroviruses, viruses. |
| 5 | -r u s u z | actresses, addresses, congresses, buttresses, choruses, embarrasses, fortresses, mattresses, mistresses, seamstresses, terraces, waitresses, walruses. |
| 4 | -u s u z | accomplices, aliases, amaryllises, apparatuses, apprentices, biases, bonuses, businesses, campuses, canvases, canvasses, carcasses, caucuses, censuses, circuses, crevices, crocuses, encompasses, eyewitnesses, fetuses, focuses, furnaces, geniuses, goddesses, grimaces, harnesses, hippopotamuses, hospices, hostesses, illnesses, injustices, justices, likenesses, minuses, necklaces, notices, novices, offices, omnibuses, orifices, palaces, penises, porpoises, poultices, prejudices, premises, promises, prospectuses, purchases, purposes, refocuses, repurchases, services, sinuses, stewardesses, surfaces, surpluses, tortoises, treatises, weaknesses, witnesses. |
| 3 | -s u z | absences, abuses, acceptances, aces, acquaintances, advances, affixes, albatrosses, allegiances, alliances, allowances, ambulances, annexes, announces, annoyances, appearances, appendixes, appliances, asses, assesses, assurances, atlases, audiences, auspices, axes, consciences, consequences, continuances, contrivances, conveniences, converses, convinces, corpses, countenances, balances, bases, basses, Biosciences, blesses, blitzes, blouses, boardinghouses, bookcases, bosses, bounces, bourses, boxes, braces, briefcases, buses, Busses, bypasses, cabooses, cadences, Casas, cases, cayuses, ceases, chances, chases, choices, circumstances, classes, clearances, clearinghouses, climaxes, clubhouses, coaxes, coffeehouses, coincidences, collapses, commences, complexes, compresses, concourses, condolences, conferences, confesses, confidences, courses, courthouses, creases, cresses, crosses, crosspieces, crucifixes, curses, dances, databases, decreases, defenses, denounces, depresses, devices, differences, disabuses, disallowances, disappearances, discourses, discusses, dismisses, dispenses, displaces, distances, distresses, disturbances, divergences, divorces, dollhouses, doses, dresses, earpieces, eclipses, embraces, eminences, endorses, enforces, enhances, entrances, erases, esses, evidences, excesses, excuses, exes, expanses, expenses, experiences, expresses, eyeglasses, faces, farmhouses, faxes, fences, finances, firehouses, fireplaces, fixes, flexes, flounces, forces, foxes, fragrances, fusses, gases, gasses, gearboxes, glances, glasses, glimpses, glosses, graces, grasses, greenhouses, grievances, grosses, grouses, guesses, guesthouses, headdresses, hindrances, hisses, hoaxes, horses, houses, hyraxes, ices, imbalances, impresses, impulses, incidences, inconveniences, increases, indexes, induces, indulgences, inferences, influences, instances, insurances, interfaces, intersperses, introduces, invoices, issuances, juices, jukeboxes, kisses, laces, lapses, latexes, leases, licences, licenses, lighthouses, looses, losses, lynxes, mailboxes, marketplaces, masses, masterpieces, medusas, messes, minibuses, misses, missus, mixes, molasses, mongooses, morasses, mosses, mouthpieces, nieces, nixes, nuances, nurses, observances, occurrences, offenses, ordinances, ounces, outhouses, outpaces, overdoses, overpasses, paces, paradoxes, passes, performances, perplexes, perses, pieces, pizzas, places, pluses, polices, possesses, powerhouses, practices, prances, preferences, presences, presses, pretenses, prices, princes, princesses, processes, produces, professes, progresses, prominences, pronounces, protuberances, provinces, pulses, purses, pusses, racehorses, races, reassurances, recesses, reduces, references, refinances, reflexes, rehearses, reimburses, reinforces, reintroduces, relapses, relaxes, releases, remembrances, reminiscences, reminisces, remittances, renounces, replaces, reproduces, resemblances, residences, resources, responses, reverses, romances, sacrifices, sauces, sciences, sconces, senses, sentences, sequences, sexes, shoelaces, showcases, silences, sixes, skyboxes, slaughterhouses, slices, solstices, sources, spaces, spices, splices, spouses, staircases, stances, statehouses, steakhouses, stresses, substances, successes, suffices, suitcases, sunglasses, suppresses, surpasses, surtaxes, taxes, tolerances, tosses, townhouses, traces, tresses, trusses, typefaces, universes, uses, utterances, variances, vases, verses, versus, vices, voices, waltzes, waxes, workhorses, workplaces, xeroxes, yeses. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-i-r-s-s" | |
-1 letter: issei, rises, sires. | |
-2 letters: ires, iris, reis, rise, seis, sers, sire, sirs, sris. | |
-3 letters: ers, ess, ire, rei, res, sei, ser, sir, sis, sri. | |
-4 letters: er, es, is, re, si. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-i-r-s-s" | |
+1 letter: merisis, sissier. | |
+2 letters: airiness, dieresis, diuresis, eristics, insiders, insister, inspires, iritises, miriness, miseries, misfires, misraise, ossifier, pismires, prissier, prissies, revisits, riminess, risibles, riskiest, satirise, sericins, sinister, slimsier, spiriest, swishier, visiters, wiriness. | |
+3 letters: basifiers, boiseries, brininess, casimires, christies, clerisies, crispiest, derisions, diaeresis, dimerisms, dirtiness, disguiser, disherits, disinters, dislikers, dispraise, disprizes, disrelish, disseisor, fieriness, filisters, finishers, firesides, fisheries, friskiest, fusiliers, gasifiers, griminess, grisliest, hairiness, heirships, histories, hosieries, idolisers, incisures, inscribes, inshrines, insisters, inspirers, ironsides, isomerism, kaiserins, kaiserism, lionisers, lyricises, ministers, misdrives, misinfers, misinters, mislikers, misprices, misprizes, misraised, misraises, misrelies, missileer, missilery, missioner, misstrike, miswrites, ossifiers, ostiaries, oxidisers, patissier, piscaries, precrisis, presidios, prissiest, recisions, reissuing, remission, resinoids, resisting, resistive, revisions, ricinuses, rieslings, rigidness, ringsides, riskiness, ritziness, russified, russifies, satirised, satirises, satirizes, scarifies, scimiters, sciurines, scorifies, seigniors, serialise, serialism, serialist, shirtiest, siderites, signories, sirenians, sistering, slimpsier, smirkiest, spiceries, spiderish, spitfires, squishier, stripiest, swirliest, trisomies, utilisers, varsities, versifies, vibrioses, vibrissae, wisterias, wristiest. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Digital Art 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
