iris

UK/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/

iris noun: a plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).

Image: Za, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

iris (plural irises or iris or irides)

A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
- Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168
Synonyms:

fleur-de-lis
The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye (See Iris (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens.
(poetic) A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light.
A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.

Verb

iris (third-person singular simple present irises, present participle irising, simple past and past participle irised)

(lens, or door) To open or close in the manner of an iris.
(literary) To cause (something) to shine with the colours of the rainbow; to make iridescent.
- Pure, transparent, glistening in the sun, and irised by a thousand hues, which float and wave and spread in graceful and ceaseless motion on its surface!1834, Jacob Abbott, chapter 1, in The Corner-Stone, Boston: William Peirce, page 31
- The sun as it comes indoors out of space
  Has left a rainbow irising each glass—
  A refraction, caught then multiplied
  From the crystal tied within our window,1987, Charles Tomlinson, “Winter Journey”, in The Return, Oxford University Press, page 35
Synonyms:

iridize

Proper noun capitalized: Iris

Iris

(Greek) A messenger of the gods, and goddess of rainbows.
- What's the matter,
  That this distemper'd messenger of wet,
  The many-colour'd Iris, rounds thine eye?c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
A female given name from Ancient Greek; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century.
- Persia tells Iris she is named for something special: the iris of the eye. "I thought I was named for a flower," Iris says, disappointed. "An iris is a flower, of course," Persia says, smiling, "but it's this other, too. Our secret. 'The iris of the eye'." "The eye?" Persia snaps her fingers in...1990, Joyce Carol Oates, Because It Is Bitter, And Because It Is My Heart, →ISBN, page 39
7 Iris, a main belt asteroid.

Noun (2) capitalized: IRIS

IRIS (uncountable)

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

Noun (3) capitalized: IRIs

IRIs

(plural) plural of IRI

iris meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

iris in Marathi

plant of the genus Iris: मझमुंड maj̈hmuṁḍ, वासमूल vāsmūl
part of the eye: बुबुळ bubuḷ, परितारिका paritārikā

iris in Urdu

آئیرس, آئیریس, آئریس

More languagesFewer languages

iris in Bengali: আইরিস
iris in Telugu: కంటిపాప kaṇṭipāpa
iris in Malayalam: കൃഷ്ണപടലം kr̥ṣṇapaṭalaṁ
iris in Kannada: ಐರಿಸ್, ಐರೀಸ್
iris in Punjabi: ਆਈਰਿਸ, ਆਇਰਿਸ, ਆਈਰੀਜ਼
iris in Gujarati: આઇરિસ, આઈરિસ
iris in Odia: ଆଇରିସ, ଆଇରିସ୍
iris in Nepali: आइरिस, आईरिस, आयरिस
iris in Tagalog: alikmata, inlaan, bahay-balintataw
iris in Arabic: قُزَحِيَّة quzaḥiyya
iris in Persian: زنبق zanbaq, عنبیه 'enabiye
iris in Thai: ม่านตา mâan-dtaa
iris in Vietnamese: diên vĩ, mống mắt
iris in Myanmar: မျက်ဝန်း myak-wan:, မျက်နက် myaknak

Examples of iris in a sentence

Pink- and apricot-coloured irises have also been bred in some species.
The flag irises are for the most part of the easiest culture and easily propagated.
It's important to note any flutter in the iris.

All 37 example sentences with iris

Synonyms of iris

Forms of iris

Noun
plural	irises
plural	iris
plural	irides
Verb
third-person singular present	irises
present participle	irising
past participle	irised
past	irised

Plural of iris: irises or iris

Origin of iris

From Middle English iris, from Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”). Presuming an earlier form *ϝῖρις (*wîris), possibly from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *w(e)ih₁-ro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). If so, it would be cognate to English wire.

From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).

Words formed from iris

Phrases with iris

Words that rhyme with iris

Japanese iris

Questions about iris

What does iris mean?: Iris means a plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
What is iris in Hindi?: Iris in Hindi is आइरिस, आईरिस. See Iris meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is iris?: Iris can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce iris?: Iris is pronounced /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of iris?: The plural of iris is irises.

Words near iris in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-iris.ogg.

Cite this entry: “iris.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/iris. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.