pellucid

adj.

1. Admitting the passage of light; transparent or translucent. See synonyms at clear.
2. Transparently clear in style or meaning: pellucid prose.

[Latin pellūcidus, from pellūcēre, to shine through : per-, through; see per- + lūcēre, to shine.]

pellucidity pel·lu·cid'i·ty or pel·lu'cid·ness n.
pellucidly pel·lu'cid·ly adv.

(puh-LOO-sid)

adjective
1. Admitting the maximum passage of light.
2. Clear; easy to understand.

Etymology
From Latin pellucidus, from perlucere (to shine through), from per- (through) + lucere (to shine). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leuk- (light) that is also the source of other words such as lunar, lunatic, light, lightning, lucid, illuminate, illustrate, translucent, lux, and lynx

Usage
"Their [Dorothy Wordsworth's journals'] style, at times pellucid, at times opaque, lies somewhere between the rapture of a love letter and the portentousness of a thriller." — Frances Wilson; The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2008.

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When something is clear, it's clear. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens reflected on several cases in which he felt clearly compelled by the law to rule as he did despite the fact that he didn't like the outcome, or found it unwise:

"But given the broader stakes... he added, 'our duty to uphold the application of the federal statute was pellucidly clear.' "

Link: Justice Weighs Desire v. Duty (Duty Prevails)

Posted August 28, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

adjective

1. Admitting light so that objects beyond can be seen: clear, crystal clear, crystalline, limpid, lucid, see-through, translucent, transparent. See clear/unclear.
2. Free from what obscures or dims: clear, crystal clear, crystalline, limpid, lucid, see-through, transparent. See clear/unclear, touch/not touch.

admitting maximum passage of light; reflecting light evenly

IN BRIEF: Transparent, translucent. Also: Easy to understand.

They sat watching the water of the pellucid stream rush by.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - gennemsigtig, klar

Nederlands (Dutch)
doorzichtig, duidelijk, helder (van geest)

Français (French)
adj. - pellucide

Deutsch (German)
adj. - klar, durchsichtig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - διαυγής, διαφανής

Italiano (Italian)
trasparente, traslucido, lampante

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - transparente, claro

Русский (Russian)
прозрачный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - translúcido, transparente, lúcido, claro

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - genomskinlig, klar

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
透明的, 明了的, 澄清的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 透明的, 明瞭的, 澄清的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 투명한, 명석한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 透明な, 明白な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) شفاف, صافي, متألق, زاه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮שקוף, זך, צלול‬

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