retinal cone
1
6.6
- noun
- /ˈrɛtɪnəl koʊn/
- Specialized
:
cono retinal
- The different types of retinal cones allow humans to see colors like green, yellow, and purple.
Examples
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Retinal cones enable us to perceive a wide range of colors in bright light.
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Now all I need is the slight stimulus of one taste bud, of the auditory labyrinth, one olfactory cell, and one retinal cone.
Fiction book (1994) -
Different opsins in the retinal cones of our eyes respond to differing wavelengths (and therefore colors) of light.
Blog text (15) -
When exposed to sunlight, the retinal cones in our eyes help us distinguish between red and blue.
Synonyms
12
7.0
A cell in the eye that is sensitive to bright light and lets you see color
A cell at the back of the eye that sees color in bright light
How Light-Sensitive
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
6.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a literal adjective+noun composition: 'retinal' (= relating to the retina) restricts the noun 'cone' (a photoreceptor cell), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is a cone cell located in the retina responsible for color/bright-light vision. The relation is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so the meaning is immediately derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Retinal cone gets its name from where it sits and how it looks: retinal shows it is in the eye's retina and cone describes its small cone shape that helps it take in 'bright light' and detect 'color vision'.