Hypertext Webster Gateway: "iris"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Iris \I"ris\, n.; pl. E. {Irises}, L. {Irides}. [L. iris,
iridis, the goddess, Gr. ?, ?, the rainbow, iris of the eye,
the plant Iris. Cf. {Orris}.]
1. (Class. Myth.) The goddess of the rainbow, and
swift-footed messenger of the gods. --Shak.
2. The rainbow. --Sir T. Browne.
3. An appearance resembling the rainbow; a prismatic play of
colors. --Tennyson.
4. (Anat.) The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil,
and forming the colored portion of the eye. See {Eye}.
5. (Bot.) A genus of plants having showy flowers and bulbous
or tuberous roots, of which the flower-de-luce
(fleur-de-lis), orris, and other species of flag are
examples. See Illust. of {Flower-de-luce}.
6. (Her.) See {Fleur-de-lis}, 2.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Iris \I"ris\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
Inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
iris
n 1: plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing
bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and
three drooping sepals [syn: {flag}, {fleur-de-lis}, {sword
lily}]
2: muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil; it
forms the colored portion of the eye
3: diaphragm consisting of thin overlapping plates that can be
adjusted to change the diameter of a central opening [syn:
{iris diaphragm}]
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