• n. [眼科] 白內障；大瀑布；暴雨，洪水；奔流
• vt. 傾注

cata-, 向下。-ract, 流，傾瀉，詞源不詳。原指大瀑布，后用做白內障的委婉語。

cataract

cataract: [15] Greek kataráktēs meant literally ‘swooping down, rushing down’; it was a derivative of the verb katarássein, a compound formed from the prefix katá- ‘down’ (which appears in a wide range of English words, including cataclysm, catalepsy, catalogue, catapult – literally ‘hurl down’ – and catastrophe) and the verb rássein ‘strike’.

Hence it was applied metaphorically to various things that ‘rush down’, including waterfalls and portcullises. The word passed into English via Latin cataracta, and the sense ‘opacity of the eye’s lens’ developed in the 16th century, probably as a metaphorical extension of the now obsolete ‘portcullis’.

cataract (n.)

early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktes "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second element is traced either to arhattein "to strike hard" (in which case the compound is kat-arrhattein), or to rhattein "to dash, break."

Its alternative sense in Latin of "portcullis" probably was passed through French to form the English meaning "eye disease" (early 15c.), on the notion of "obstruction" (to eyesight).

1. He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.

他是一位曾經動過白內障手術的老人.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2. The way is blocked by the tall cataract.

高懸的大瀑布擋住了去路.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. Age is not a factor in cataract surgery.

年齡并不是影響做白內障手術的因素。

來自辭典例句

4. As he stood there, this cataract on a sudden increased in volume.

他站在那兒, 這道瀑布忽然越來越大了.

來自辭典例句

5. The good news from the battlefields is becoming a cataract.

戰場上傳來的好消息正在變成一道奔流.

來自辭典例句