cataract English · revision 1483

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1360–1}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkætəɹækt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkætəˌɹæk(t)/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|cataracte]],^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|la|cataracta]], [[m|la|catarracta|t=waterfall; floodgate; portcullis]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[grc|καταρράκτης|tr=katarrháktēs]], [[m|grc|καταράκτης|tr=kataráktēs|t=waterfall; portcullis]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) a noun use of an adjective meaning “rushing down”,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[m|grc|κατά|tr=katá|t=down]] (see [[cata-]]) and either [[m|grc|ἀράσσειν|tr=arássein|t=to strike, smash]] or [[m|grc|ῥάσσειν|tr=rhássein|t=to dash, break]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A portcullis, or the grating of a window (1360–1 in the OED); in the plural, the floodgates of heaven, as in Genesis (1430).^(OED 1989)^(Weekley 1921)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Weekley notes that the oldest Middle English sense is “portcullis”, and that the word is used of the floodgates of heaven before it means a waterfall.^(Weekley 1921) From 1555 it was applied to waterspouts,^(OED 1989) and since 1594 to a large waterfall falling headlong over a precipice, as distinct from a [[cascade]].^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) It was then extended to any violent downpour or rush of water (1634).^(OED 1989) The medical sense, an opacity of the lens of the eye, is recorded probably before 1425 in Barnhart and in the 16th century in Hoad;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986) it is probably a figurative use of the “portcullis” sense, as though a grating had been lowered over the eye.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Klein instead links it to an Arabic word meaning both “water” and “cataract”.^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1360–1 – a portcullis (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1430 – the floodgates of heaven.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1425 – the eye disease (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1555 – a waterspout.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1594 – a large waterfall.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1634 – a violent downpour.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An opacity of the [[lens]] of the eye or its capsule, causing impaired vision or blindness.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large or high [[waterfall]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A great downpour; a [[deluge]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A [[portcullis]]; a [[floodgate]].^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fall or pour like a cataract.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cascade]]

+ * [[waterfall]]

+ * [[cataclysm]]

+ * [[portcullis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}