cornea

C3O1R1N1E1A1
/ˈkɔː(ɹ)ni.ə/

noun

The transparent layer making up the outermost front part of the eye, covering the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber.

Less commonScrabble 8

Meanings

cornea1

nouncornea (plural corneas or corneae or (archaic) corneæ)

plural corneas · plural corneae · archaic plural corneæ

  1. anatomyThe transparent layer making up the outermost front part of the eye, covering the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber.

    The corneae were swollen without major infiltrates similar to longstanding disciform edema.

    1981, R. Sundmacher, D. Neumann-Haefelin, A. Mattes, K. Cantell, “Connatal Monosymptomatic Corneal Endotheliitis by Cytomegalovirus”, in Herpetic Eye Diseases, J.F. Bergmann Verlag, →ISBN, page 501
    3 more examples

    Or instead of treating them with the developing solution, the corneæ may be removed to a warm, concentrated solution of tartaric acid and remain there at the temperature of an incubating stove until the gold is fully reduced.

    1885, Arthur Bolles Lee, chapter XI, in The Microtomist’s Vade‐Mecum, P. Blakiston, Son & Co, page 93

    In the lateral view (fig. 26) the corneae seemed very flat, their convexity not exceeding that of the bulbi (cornea plana?);

    1969, P. P. H. Alkemade, Dysgenesis Mesodermalis of the Iris and the Cornea: A Study of Rieger’s Syndrome and Peter’s Anomaly, page 119

    It is well known that in clinical practice the corneae from eyes enucleated for malignant melanoma of posterior choroid are usually utilized for corneal grafting. This research refers to cases of posterior melanomas which extended anteriorly, in which the utilization of the corneae for grafting was doubtful.

    1983, A. Loffredo, G. Cennamo, A. De Lellis, A. Sammartino, A. Del Prete, “Echographic Pattern Evaluation of Eyes with Choroid Melanoma for Corneal Graft Utilization”, in Jeffrey S. Hillman, Malcolm M. Le May, editors, Ophthalmic Ultrasonography: Proceedings of the 9th SIDUO Congress, Leeds, U.K. July 20-23, 1982, Dr W. Junk Publishers, Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, →ISBN, page 43

Cornea2

proper noun

Origin

cornea · noun

  1. Latincornea tela“horny tissue”
  2. Englishcornea

From Latin cornea tela (“horny tissue”), from cornu (“horn”).

Full word history & related roots →

Cornea · proper noun

  1. RomanianCornea
  2. EnglishCornea

Unadapted borrowing from Romanian Cornea.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic قَرْنِيَّة
  • قَرْنِيَّة (qarniyya)layer forming the front of the eye
Bulgarian роговица
  • роговица (rogovica)layer forming the front of the eye
Catalan còrnia
  • còrnialayer forming the front of the eye
Chinese Mandarin 角膜, 眼角膜
  • 角膜 (jiǎomó)layer forming the front of the eye
  • 眼角膜 (yǎnjiǎomó)layer forming the front of the eye
Czech rohovka
  • rohovkalayer forming the front of the eye
Danish hornhinde
  • hornhindelayer forming the front of the eye
Esperanto korneo
  • korneolayer forming the front of the eye
Finnish sarveiskalvo
  • sarveiskalvolayer forming the front of the eye
French cornée
  • cornéelayer forming the front of the eye
German Hornhaut
  • Hornhautlayer forming the front of the eye
Greek κερατοειδής χιτώνας
  • κερατοειδής χιτώνας (keratoeidís chitónas)layer forming the front of the eye
Hungarian szaruhártya
  • szaruhártyalayer forming the front of the eye
Indonesian kornea
  • kornealayer forming the front of the eye
Irish coirne
  • coirnelayer forming the front of the eye
Italian cornea
  • cornealayer forming the front of the eye
Japanese 角膜
  • 角膜 (kakumaku)layer forming the front of the eye
Korean 각막
  • 각막 (gangmak)layer forming the front of the eye
Latin cornea
  • cornealayer forming the front of the eye
Latvian radzene
  • radzenelayer forming the front of the eye
Lithuanian ragena
  • ragenalayer forming the front of the eye
Māori kiriwhatu
  • kiriwhatulayer forming the front of the eye
Norwegian Bokmål hornhinne
  • hornhinnelayer forming the front of the eye
Persian قرنیه
  • قرنیه (qarniye)layer forming the front of the eye
Polish rogówka
  • rogówkalayer forming the front of the eye
Portuguese córnea
  • córnealayer forming the front of the eye
Punjabi ਪਾਰਦਰਸ਼ੀ ਝਿੱਲੀ
  • ਪਾਰਦਰਸ਼ੀ ਝਿੱਲੀ (pārdaraśī jhillī)layer forming the front of the eye
Romanian cornee
  • corneelayer forming the front of the eye
Russian рогови́ца
  • рогови́ца (rogovíca)layer forming the front of the eye
Slovak rohovka
  • rohovkalayer forming the front of the eye
Spanish córnea
  • córnealayer forming the front of the eye
Swedish hornhinna, kornea
  • hornhinnalayer forming the front of the eye
  • kornealayer forming the front of the eye
Tagalog sikwit-mata
  • sikwit-matalayer forming the front of the eye
Thai กระจกตา
  • กระจกตา (grà-jòk-dtaa)layer forming the front of the eye
Turkish kornea, saydam tabaka
  • kornealayer forming the front of the eye
  • saydam tabakalayer forming the front of the eye
Ukrainian рогі́вка
  • рогі́вка (rohívka)layer forming the front of the eye
Vietnamese giác mạc
  • giác mạclayer forming the front of the eye
Welsh cornbilen
  • cornbilenlayer forming the front of the eye

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cornea

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

cornea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cornea

MLA

“cornea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cornea. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cornea,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cornea.

Source: cornea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.