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retinal

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Etymology and origin of the English word retinal

retinal1 of the retina

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1798 T. Brown, Observations on the Zoonomia of Erasmus Darwin
Ultimate origin
Latin rēte
Etymology tree of retinal1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin retineo
Italian ritenere
Latin retina
English retina
English retinal
From the same root · retinal1
Latin retentio ← retineo
Latin retento ← retineo
Latin retinaculum ← retineo

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɹɛt.ɪn.əl/[1]
  • US: /ˈɹɛt.ən.əl/, /ˈɹɛt.nəl/[1]

Etymology

The adjective is formed from English retina + -al.[2][3][4][5][6] Retina is from Medieval Latin retina,[3][2] probably from rēte (“net”), from the net-like look of the blood vessels at the back of the eye.[3][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the retina: 1798, in T. Brown's Observations on the Zoonomia of Erasmus Darwin.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged give the same year,[3][6] while the Collegiate dates the word to 1838,[8] Dictionary.com to 1830–40,[5] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 19th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its anatomical sense.[2][6] From 1984 it was also used of a method of identifying people by the unique pattern of blood vessels in the retina, as in a retinal scan.[2] The adverb retinally is recorded from the late 20th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1798 – of or relating to the retina.[2][3][6]
  • 1984 – of identification by the pattern of blood vessels in the retina.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or affecting the retina: a retinal detachment.[6][2][4]
  2. Relating to a biometric method of identifying a person by the blood vessels in the retina: a retinal scanner.[2]

Word family

  • retinally
  • subretinal

retinal2 vitamin A aldehyde

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1944
Ultimate origin
English retinol,-al

Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈɹɛt.əˌnæl/, /ˈɹɛt.əˌnɔl/[1]

Etymology

The chemical noun is formed from English retinol + -al, with the chemical suffix of aldehydes;[2][9][10] the fourth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary explains it as retinol plus aldehyde.[10] The Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com take the first part from retina instead.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The yellow aldehyde of vitamin A: Merriam-Webster dates it to 1944,[6][8] Dictionary.com to 1940–45,[5] and the OED's first record is from the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1960.[2]

Semantic evolution

The same compound had earlier been called retinene, a name recorded from 1934, in George Wald's work in Nature.[2] Retinal combines with the protein opsin in the retina to form the visual pigment rhodopsin.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1934 – the compound named retinene.[2]
  • 1944 – retinal, the aldehyde of vitamin A.[6] The OED's first record is from 1960.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (biochemistry) A yellow to orange aldehyde of vitamin A (retinol), which joins with opsin in the retina to form the visual pigment rhodopsin; also called retinene.[2][4][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Retinal.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/retinal. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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