pellucid
Syllables: pel·luc·id/pɪˈl(j)uːsɪd/US/pəˈlusɪd/
pellucid adjective: allowing the passage of light; translucent or transparent.
Adjective
pellucid (comparative more pellucid, superlative most pellucid)
- Allowing the passage of light; translucent or transparent.
- Blood to the naked Eye appears all red; but by a good Microſcope, vvherein its leſſer parts appear, ſhevvs only ſome fevv Globules of Red, ſvvimming in a pellucid Liquor; and hovv theſe Globules vvould appear, if Glaſſes could be found, that yet could magnifie them 1000, or 10000 times more, is...1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Our Complex Ideas of Substances”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book II, §...
- This Cryſtal is a pellucid fiſſile Stone, clear as VVater or Cryſtal of the Rock, and vvithout Colour; enduring a red Heat vvithout loſing its tranſparency, and in a very ſtrong Heat calcining vvithout Fuſion.a. 1728 (date written), Isaac Newton, “[The Third Book of Opticks.] [Qu[estion] 25. Are there not other original Properties of the Rays of Light, besides those already described?]”, in Opticks: Or, A...
- Synonyms:
- clear, limpid, lucid, perspicuous, clear as crystal, crystalline, diaphanous, glassy, hyaline, hyaloid
- Antonyms:
- adiaphanous, nontransparent, opacous, opacular, opaque, thick
- Easily understood; clear.
- Written in spare, pellucid prose, the book reads like a close-to-the-bone memoir.1994 November 13, Fritz Lanham, The Houston Chronicle, Houston, Tex.: Houston Chronicle Pub. Co., →ISSN, →OCLC
- [Y]ou never receive me apart from the grammar that establishes my availability to you. If I treat that grammar as pellucid, then I fail to call attention precisely to that sphere of language that establishes and disestablishes intelligibility, and that would be precisely to thwart my own project as...1999, Judith Butler, “Preface (1999)”, in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon., published 2015, →ISBN, page xxvi
- Synonyms:
- crystal clear, lucid, perspicuous, translucent, apprehensible, clear, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicable
- Antonyms:
- abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, bottomless, Greek, inapprehensible, incognizable, incomprehensible
- Of music or some other sound: not discordant or harsh; clear and pure-sounding.
- Opera star [Giorgio] Tozzi sings with the richness of burnished bronze and [Sharon] Daniels complements him with her pellucid soprano.1979 October 22, T. E. Kalem, “Theater: Monopod”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2022
- Of a person, their mind, etc.: able to think and understand clearly; not confused; clear, sharp.
- Easily recognized or seen through; apparent, obvious.
- Synonyms:
- apparent, arrant, undoubted, glaring, bait, blatant, clear, clear as a bell, clear as day, clear cut
Noun
pellucid (plural pellucids)
- Something which allows the passage of light; a translucent or transparent object.
- A Pellucid is not ſeen, but percieved^([sic]) by the privation of Colour. So vve ſee not Air in Air, VVater in VVater, Glaſs in Glaſs, and every Pellucid in an equal Pellucid; and becauſe vve knovv they are not coloured, vve count them to be diaphanous, viz. that may be ſeen, or ſhone thorough.1729, [Johann Jacob Hainlin], “Of the Vision of Pellucidity or Shining through”, in Venterus Mandey, transl., Synopsis Mathematica Universalis: Or, A Brief System of Mathematics, […], [3rd] edition...
- The true Aſtroites, vvhich in the ſun-ſhine throvvs out a briſk light radiating from one certain point, belongs to the claſs of Pellucids.[1735?], Herman Boerhaave, “Being a Delineation of the Theory. [Of Stones.]”, in [anonymous], transl., Elements of Chemistry. Being the Annual Lectures of Hermann Boerhaave, M.D. […], volume I...
pellucid meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
pellucid in Tamil
- ஒளி ஊடுருவும், ஒளிபுகும், எளிதில் புரிந்துகொள்ளக்கூடிய
pellucid in Urdu
- بلوری, شفاف
pellucid in Malayalam
- clear, transparent, translucent
- സ്വച്ഛമായ, അർദ്ധതാര്യമായ, നിർമ്മലമായ, പ്രസന്നമായ, തെളിഞ്ഞ, സുതാര്യമായ
- limpid, lucid, clear
- സ്പഷ്ടമായ, സ്വച്ഛന്ദമായ, വിശദമായ, ഗ്രാഹ്യം, സുഗ്രഹമായ, അകലുഷ
pellucid in Kannada
- ತಿಳಿಯಾದ, ಆಚೆ ಕಾಣುವ, ಪಾರಕ, ಪಾರದರ್ಶಕವಾದ, ಸ್ವಚ್ಛವಾದ
More languagesFewer languages
- pellucid in Sanskrit
- अच्छ accha
Examples of pellucid in a sentence
- The sea was shining like a sheet of glass, […] and the bright sea-weeds and the brilliant corals shone in the depths of that pellucid water, as we rowed over it, like rare and precious gems.1857, Robert Michael Ballantyne, chapter XVI, in The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and...
- You cannot think what figs / My teeth have met in, / What melons icy-cold / Piled on a dish of gold / Too huge for me to hold, / What peaches with a velvet nap, / Pellucid grapes without one seed: […]1862, Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”, in Goblin Market and Other Poems, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; London: Macmillan & Co., […]...
- It was to this part that a swimmer would naturally go, for it formed a beautiful pellucid green pool as clear as crystal.1926 November 27, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert]...
Synonyms of pellucid
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- see-through
- transparent
- transpicuous
- vitreous
- crystal clear
- translucent
- apprehensible
- comprehensible
- explainable
- explicable
- explicatable
- fathomable
- graspable
- illuminable
- intelligible
- straightforward
- tangible
- understandable
- apparent
- arrant
- undoubted
- glaring
- bait
- blatant
- clear as a bell
- clear as day
- clear cut
- conspicuous
- cut and dried
- decided
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of pellucid
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more pellucid |
| superlative | most pellucid |
| Noun | |
| plural | pellucids |
Origin of pellucid
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin pellūcidus, perlucidus (“transparent, pellucid; very bright; very understandable”), from per- (prefix meaning ‘through; throughout; completely, thoroughly’) + lūcidus (“clear; full of light, bright, shining; (figuratively) easily understood, clear, lucid”) (from lūceō (“to shine; to become visible, show through; (figuratively) to be apparent, conspicuous, or evident”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives)). The noun is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Late Latin pellucidum (“transparent substance”) * Middle French pellucide (modern French pellucide (“pellucid”))
Words formed from pellucid
Questions about pellucid
- What does pellucid mean?
- Pellucid means allowing the passage of light; translucent or transparent.
- What is pellucid in Tamil?
- Pellucid in Tamil is ஒளி ஊடுருவும், ஒளிபுகும், எளிதில் புரிந்துகொள்ளக்கூடிய. See Pellucid meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use pellucid in a sentence?
- The sea was shining like a sheet of glass, […] and the bright sea-weeds and the brilliant corals shone in the depths of that pellucid water, as we rowed over it, like rare and precious gems.
- What part of speech is pellucid?
- Pellucid can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce pellucid?
- Pellucid is pronounced /pɪˈl(j)uːsɪd/ (UK).
Words near pellucid in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pellucid (page history and authors); pellucid (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pellucid (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pellucid (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); pellucid (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अच्छ (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pellucid.wav.
Cite this entry: “pellucid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pellucid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.