Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The transparent convex anterior portion of the outer fibrous coat of the eyeball that covers the iris and the pupil and is continuous with the sclera.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The firm, transparent anterior portion of the eyeball.
  • noun In entomology, the outer surface of an insect's compound eye.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The transparent part of the coat of the eyeball which covers the iris and pupil and admits light to the interior. See eye.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy The transparent layer making up the outermost front part of the eye, covering the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the transparent dome-shaped anterior portion of the outer covering of the eye; it covers the iris and pupil and is continuous with the sclera

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin cornea (tēla), horny (tissue), from Latin corneus, horny, from cornū, horn; see ker- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cornea tela ("horny tissue"), from cornu ("horn")

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