transparent

What it means

1. See-through, clear; having the property that light passes through it almost undisturbed, such that one can see through it clearly.

   The waters of the lake were transparent until the factory dumped waste there.

   1 more example

   "You make the glass invisible by putting it into a liquid of nearly the same refractive index; a transparent thing becomes invisible if it is put in any medium of almost the same refractive index."

   1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 19, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC

   1. artsOf a graphical image or animated GIF, having parts that allow the background to show through.
2. Open, public; having the property that theories and practices are publicly visible, thereby reducing the chance of corruption.

In a sentence

"You make the glass invisible by putting it into a liquid of nearly the same refractive index; a transparent thing becomes invisible if it is put in any medium of almost the same refractive index."

1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 19, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC

Where it comes from

1. Latintrans
2. Medieval Latintrānspārēns, trānspārēntis“transparent”
3. Englishtransparent

Borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārēns, trānspārēntis (“transparent”), present participle of transpareō, from Latin trans + pareō. Displaced native Old English þurhsīene.