glaucoma

G2L1A1U1C3O1M3A1
UK/ɡlɔːˈkəʊmə/US/ɡlɔːˈkoʊmə/US/ɡlaʊˈkoʊmə/cot caught merger/ɡlɑˈkoʊmə/

noun

An eye disease or disorder that is defined as a characteristic optic neuropathy, or disease of the optic nerve, possibly, if untreated, leading to damage of the optic disc of the eye and resultant visual field loss due to lack of communication between the retina and the brain, which can lead to blindness.

Meanings

nounglaucoma (countable and uncountable, plural glaucomas or glaucomata)

plural glaucomas · plural glaucomata

  1. countableuncountablemedicineAn eye disease or disorder that is defined as a characteristic optic neuropathy, or disease of the optic nerve, possibly, if untreated, leading to damage of the optic disc of the eye and resultant visual field loss due to lack of communication between the retina and the brain, which can lead to blindness.

    Oh, I got the glaucoma, real bad.

    2013 January 15, Dave Andron, “Where's Waldo?”, in Justified, season 4, episode 2
    5 more examples

    Professor Rosas, in his last work on Diseases of the Eye (Lehre von den Augenkrankheiten, Wien, 1834, p. 326), distinguishes three kinds of glaucoma, viz. glaucoma of the hyaloid, glaucoma of the retina, and glaucoma of the choroid. He makes no mention of lenticular glaucoma, which is much more common than any of the three which he particularizes. Indeed, vitreous, retinal, and choroidal glaucomata, are, to say the least of them, rare diseases.

    1838, William Mackenzie, “Remarks on Lenticular Glaucoma”, in The London Medical Gazette; Being a Weekly Journal of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences, volume II, London: […] Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], page 105, column 2

    Nearly all of the so-called noncongestive glaucomata are of Types 1, 2, and 3.

    1948 June, Edward J. Curran, “Advances in the Treatment of Glaucoma: The Joseph Schneider Foundation Eye Presentation”, in Postgraduate Medicine, volume III, number VI, page 409, column 2

    The term primary glaucoma designates that group of glaucomata, the cause of which is not yet known, in contrast to secondary glaucoma, which is due to some obvious cause.

    1952, The West Indian Medical Journal, page 180

    The development of latent glaucomata is usually slow and chronic, following the rhythm of primary glaucomata.

    1960, Premier Congrès de la Société Européenne d’Ophtalmologie, page 28

    Unfortunately, most of the older data are of limited value because the distinction between the various forms of glaucoma was often difficult and thus unreliable and because glaucomata are diseases of advanced age.

    1962, Werner Kalow, “[Human Hereditary Defects With Altered Drug Response] Angle-Closure Glaucoma”, in Pharmacogenetics: Heredity and the Response to Drugs, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: W. B. Saunders Company, →LCCN, page 193, column 2

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekγλαύκωμα“an opacity of the crystalline lens”
  2. Englishglaucoma

Borrowed from Ancient Greek γλαύκωμα (glaúkōma, “an opacity of the crystalline lens”), derived from γλαυκός (glaukós, “blue-green”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic زَرَق, المَاء الأَزْرَق
  • زَرَق (zaraq)eye disease
  • المَاء الأَزْرَق (al-māʔ al-ʔazraq)eye disease
Catalan glaucoma
  • glaucomaeye disease
Chinese Mandarin 青光眼
  • 青光眼 (qīngguāngyǎn)eye disease
Czech glaukom, zelený zákal
  • glaukomeye disease
  • zelený zákaleye disease
Danish grøn stær, glaukom
  • grøn stæreye disease
  • glaukomeye disease
Dutch glaucoom, groene staar
  • glaucoomeye disease
  • groene staareye disease
Finnish glaukooma
  • glaukoomaeye disease
French glaucome
  • glaucomeeye disease
German Glaukom, grüner Star
  • Glaukomeye disease
  • grüner Stareye disease
Greek γλαύκωμα
  • γλαύκωμα (gláfkoma)eye disease
Hungarian zöld hályog, glaukóma
  • zöld hályogeye disease
  • glaukómaeye disease
Icelandic gláka
  • glákaeye disease
Irish glácóma
  • glácómaeye disease
Japanese 緑内障
  • 緑内障 (ryokunaishō)eye disease
Korean 녹내장
  • 녹내장 (nongnaejang)eye disease
Latin glaucoma
  • glaucomaeye disease
Māori papahewa, mate papahewa
  • papahewaeye disease
  • mate papahewaeye disease
Persian آبسیاه
  • آبسیاه (ābsiyāh)eye disease
Polish jaskra, glaukoma
  • jaskraeye disease
  • glaukomaeye disease
Portuguese glaucoma
  • glaucomaeye disease
Romanian glaucom
  • glaucomeye disease
Russian глауко́ма
  • глауко́ма (glaukóma)eye disease
Spanish glaucoma
  • glaucomaeye disease
Swahili glakoma
  • glakomaeye disease
Swedish grön starr, glaukom
  • grön starreye disease
  • glaukomeye disease
Turkish glokom
  • glokomeye disease
Ukrainian глауко́ма
  • глауко́ма (hlaukóma)eye disease
Vietnamese cườm nước
  • cườm nướceye disease
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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