visual purple

noun

: a photosensitive red or purple pigment in the retinal rods of various vertebrates
especially : rhodopsin

Word History

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of visual purple was in 1878

Dictionary Entries Near visual purple

visual point

visual purple

visual ray

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Visual purple.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visual%20purple. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

visual purple

noun
: a red or purple pigment in the retina of various vertebrates including human beings that is sensitive to dim light and functions in night vision

Medical Definition

visual purple

noun
: rhodopsin

More from Merriam-Webster on visual purple

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about visual purple

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

A Great Big List of Bread Words

The Words of the Week - Apr. 12

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

12 More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...