Standard Lemma guide

diaphanous

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /daɪˈæf.ən.əs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AY0 AE1 F AH0 N IH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Transparent or translucent; allowing light to pass through; capable of being seen through.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: translucent, transparent, see-through, sheer

Antonyms: opaque

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of a fine, almost transparent, texture; gossamer; light and insubstantial.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1951, Robert Frost, Unpublished preface to a collection, 2007, Mark Richardson (editor), The Collected Prose of Robert Frost, page 169, The most diaphanous wings carry a burden of pollen from flower to flower.
  • 1963, Hermann Weyl, quoted in 1985, Floyd Merrell, Deconstruction Reframed, page 67, What is amazing is that "a concept that is created by mind itself, the sequence of integers, the simplest and most diaphanous thing for the constructive mind, assumes a similar aspect of obscurity and deficiency when viewed from the axiomatic angle" (Weyl, 1963, 220).

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: delicate, insubstantial, sheer

Antonyms: concrete, solid

3

adj

Meaning 3

Isorefractive, having an identical refractive index.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

so thin as to transmit light

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • 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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: filmy, gauzy, gauze-like, gossamer, see-through, sheer, transparent, vaporous, vapourous, cobwebby

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Ancient Greek διαφανής (diaphanḗs), from δια- (dia-, “through”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine, appear”).

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: прозрачен (prozračen) — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Catalan: diàfan — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Catalan: transparent — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Dutch: doorzichtig — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Dutch: doorschijnend — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Finnish: läpinäkyvä — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Finnish: läpikuultava — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • French: diaphane — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • German: durchscheinend — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • German: diaphan — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • German: durchsichtig — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Greek: διαφανής (diafanís) — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Ancient Greek: διαφανής (diaphanḗs) — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Hungarian: átlátszó — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Ido: diafana — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Italian: trasparente — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Italian: ialino — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Polish: ażurowy — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Serbo-Croatian: proziran — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Serbo-Croatian: providan — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Serbo-Croatian: dijafan — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Spanish: diáfano — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Swedish: genomskinlig — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Ottoman Turkish: شفاف (şeffaf) — transparent; allowing light to pass through
  • Bulgarian: прозирен (proziren) — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Dutch: ragfijn — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Esperanto: diafana — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Finnish: hieno — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Finnish: seitinohut — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Finnish: harsomainen — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • French: diaphane — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • German: durchscheinend — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • German: diaphan — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Hungarian: áttetsző — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Italian: diafano — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Occitan: diafan — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Russian: прозра́чный (prozráčnyj) — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Serbo-Croatian: dijafan — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Swedish: skir — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Swedish: florstunn — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Tagalog: masilim — of a fine, almost transparent texture
  • Ottoman Turkish: شفاف (şeffaf) — of a fine, almost transparent texture