Standard Lemma guide

rhodopsin

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.

  • CMU ARPABET: R OW0 D AA1 P S AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A light-sensitive pigment in the rod cells of the retina; it consists of an opsin protein bound to the carotenoid retinal

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a red photopigment in the retinal rods of vertebrates; dissociates into retinene by light

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: visual purple, retinal purple

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: photopigment

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), due to its pinkish color, and ὄψις (ópsis, “sight”).

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: rodopsyna — a light-sensitive pigment in the rod cells of the retina
  • Portuguese: rodopsina — a light-sensitive pigment in the rod cells of the retina