Meanings
Origin
- Medieval Latinrētīna“retina”
- Middle Englishrethina
- Englishretina
From Middle English rethina, borrowing from Medieval Latin rētīna (“retina”, feminine noun), ellipsis of tunica rētīna (“net-like tunic”), used to describe the blood vessel system at the back of the eye. The phrase is attested in the 12th century in Guillelmus the abbot and Gerard of Cremona—the latter may have created this phrase as a translation for Arabic طَبَقَة شَبَكِيَّة (ṭabaqa šabakiyya) "net-like layer", which translates Ancient Greek ἀμφιβληστροειδής χῐτών (amphiblēstroeidḗs khĭtṓn, “retina”), which is attested in the ancient medical writer Galen.
More words from Middle English, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شَبَكِيَّة عَيْن, شَبَكِيَّة
- شَبَكِيَّة عَيْن (šabakiyyat ʕayn)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- شَبَكِيَّة (šabakiyya)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Bengali রেটিনা
- রেটিনা (reṭina)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Bulgarian рети́на
- рети́на (retína)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Catalan retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Chinese Mandarin 視網膜 /视网膜, 網膜 /网膜
- 視網膜 /视网膜 (shìwǎngmó)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- 網膜 /网膜 (wǎngmó)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Czech sítnice
- sítnicethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Danish nethinde
- nethindethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Dutch netvlies, retina
- netvliesthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Esperanto retino
- retinothin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Estonian võrkkest
- võrkkestthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Finnish verkkokalvo, retina
- verkkokalvothin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
French rétine
- rétinethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
German Netzhaut, Retina
- Netzhautthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- Retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Greek αμφιβληστροειδής
- αμφιβληστροειδής (amfivlistroeidís)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Hebrew רִשְׁתִּית
- רִשְׁתִּית (rishtít)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Hindi रेटिना
- रेटिना (reṭinā)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Hungarian retina, recehártya
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- recehártyathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Indonesian retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Irish reitine
- reitinethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Italian retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Japanese 網膜
- 網膜 (mōmaku)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Korean 망막
- 망막 (mangmak)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Latvian tīklene
- tīklenethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Lithuanian tinklainė
- tinklainėthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Malay retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Māori āhuahua, mata tuaroa
- āhuahuathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- mata tuaroathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Norwegian Bokmål netthinne
- netthinnethin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Persian شبکیه
- شبکیه (šabakiyye)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Polish siatkówka
- siatkówkathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Portuguese retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Romanian retină
- retinăthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Russian сетча́тка, рети́на
- сетча́тка (setčátka)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- рети́на (retína)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Slovak sietnica
- sietnicathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Spanish retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Swedish näthinna, retina
- näthinnathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Tagalog busilig
- busiligthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Thai จอตา
- จอตา (jor-dtaa)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Turkish ağ kat, ağ tabaka
- ağ katthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- ağ tabakathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Ukrainian сіткі́вка, рети́на
- сіткі́вка (sitkívka)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- рети́на (retýna)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Urdu شبکیہ, ریٹنا
- شبکیہthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- ریٹنا (reṭinā)thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Vietnamese võng mạc, màng lưới
- võng mạcthin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
- màng lướithin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Welsh retina
- retinathin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with retina
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
retina. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retina
MLA
“retina.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retina. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retina,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retina.
Source: retina on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.