Trans-lū’cent, a.
a. [Lat. translucens, p. pr. of translucere, to shine through; trans, across, through, and lucere, to shine. Cf. TRALUCENT.]
- Transmitting rays of light without permitting objects to be distinctly seen; pellucid.
- Transparent; clear.
Replenished from the cool, translucent springs. Pope. Syn.—TRANSLUCENT, TRANSPARENT. A thing is translucent when it merely admits the passage of light without enabling us to distinguish objects through it; it is transparent when we can clearly discern objects placed on the other side of it. Glass, water, &c., are transparent; ground glass, horn, &c., are translucent. Each thought was visible that rolled within, As through a crystal case the figured hours are seen, And Heaven did this transparent veil provide, Because she had no guilty thought to hide. Dryden. Wherever fountain or fresh current flowed, Against the eastern ray, translucent, pure, With touch ethereal of heaven’s fiery rod, I drank. Milton.