di·aph·a·nous
Audio Help [dahy-af-uh-nuh
s] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [dahy-af-uh-nuh
s] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| 1. | very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent. |
| 2. | delicately hazy. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
diaphanous
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| di·aph·a·nous
Audio Help (dī-āf'ə-nəs) Pronunciation Key
adj.
[From Medieval Latin diaphanus, transparent, from Greek diaphanēs, from diaphainein, to be transparent : dia-, dia- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.] di'a·pha·ne'i·ty (dī'ə-fə-nē'ĭ-tē), di·aph'a·nous·ness n., di·aph'a·nous·ly adv. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
diaphanous
1614, from M.L. diaphanus, from Gk. diaphanes, from dia- "through" + phainesthai, middle voice form (subject acting on itself) of phainein "to show."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| diaphanous | |
adjective | |
| so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Diaphanous
Di"a*phane\, n. [Cf. F. diaphane diaphanous. See Diaphanous.] A woven silk stuff with transparent and colored figures; diaper work.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
diaphanous
diaphanous was Word of the Day on February 28, 2000.
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s) transparent (equiv. to diaphan-, s. of diaphaínein to show through (see 













