Standard Lemma guide

ophthalmia

noun · 2 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.

  • UK: /ɒfˈθælmiə/
  • UK: /ɒpˈθælmiə/
  • General-American: /ɑpˈθælmiə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Synonym of ophthalmitis (“inflammation of the eye”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ophthalmitis

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

severe conjunctivitis

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ophthalmitis

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: conjunctivitis, pinkeye

Narrower terms: ophthalmia neonatorum

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin obtalmia and Old French obtalmie, ultimately from Ancient Greek ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós). Re-classicized from the Greek spelling, instead of archaic obtalmy (“eye inflammation, (also?) longsightedness”).

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: رَمَد (ramad) — ophthalmitis
  • Finnish: oftalmia — ophthalmitis
  • French: ophtalmie — ophthalmitis
  • German: Ophthalmie — ophthalmitis
  • Irish: oftailme — ophthalmitis
  • Italian: oftalmite — ophthalmitis
  • Italian: oftalmia — ophthalmitis