transparent

Borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārēns, trānspārēntis (“transparent”), present participle of transpareō, from Latin trans + pareō. Displaced native Old English þurhsīene.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɹænsˈpæɹ.ənt/, /tɹænzˈpæɹ.ənt/
• (General American, Canada)
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /tɹænsˈpæɹ.ənt/, /tɹænz-/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /tɹænsˈpɛɹ.ənt/, /tɹænz-/

    • Audio (Southern California):

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transparent (comparative more transparent, superlative most transparent)

1. (of a material or object) See-through, clear; having the property that light passes through it almost undisturbed, such that one can see through it clearly.
   • 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 19, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     "You make the glass invisible by putting it into a liquid of nearly the same refractive index; a transparent thing becomes invisible if it is put in any medium of almost the same refractive index."

   The waters of the lake were transparent until the factory dumped waste there.

   1. (graphic design) Of a graphical image or animated GIF, having parts that allow the background to show through.
2. (of a system or organization) Open, public; having the property that theories and practices are publicly visible, thereby reducing the chance of corruption.
3. Obvious; readily apparent; easy to see or understand.

   His reasons for the decision were transparent.

   I love playing poker with Steve, because he's so transparent.

   • 2025 February 6, Angelica Evans, “Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion: Six Month Assessment”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:

     Ukraine's campaign in Kursk Oblast demonstrates that surprise is still possible on the partially transparent battlefield of Ukraine — where an adversary can observe force concentrations but not reliably discern an enemy's operational intent and capabilities.

4. (signal processing) Having the property of transparency, i.e. sufficiently accurate that the compressed result is perceptually indistinguishable from the uncompressed input.
5. (computing) Not noticeable because it happens automatically or in the background; invisible.
   • 2003, Rolf Oppliger, Security Technologies for the World Wide Web, page 34:

     In order to make that transparent to the user, browsers usually cache the usernames and passwords and retransmit them automatically each time they contact the server.

• (see-through, clear): The term translucent is similar in meaning, but describes a material or object that diffuses light as it passes through. Looking through a transparent substance (such as a window), one can recognize objects on the other side. Looking through a translucent substance (such as frosted glass), one cannot see objects clearly, only light and shadow.

• (see-through, clear): see-through, diaphanous, clear, crystalline, limpid, sheer
• (obvious): apparent, clear, obvious

• (antonym(s) of “see-through, clear”): opaque
• (antonym(s) of “obvious”): obscure, opaque
• nontransparent
• non-transparent

• translucent

• referentially transparent
• semitransparent
• transparently
• transparent pie

• transparency
• transparently
• transparentness

transparent (plural transparents)

1. Something that is transparent.

   Coordinate terms: opaque, translucent

   • 1858 March, G. Brodie, “Fashions for March”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XVI, number XCIV, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 576, column 2:

     The Dress Cap and Under-Sleeves are en suite. In both the puffings are separated by equal intervals, in which the transparents are uncovered.

   • 1935 March, F. L. Nowosatka, “Making Colorful Modern Rings from Old Toothbrush Handles”, in Raymond J. Brown, editor, Popular Science Monthly, volume 126, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Co., Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, “The Home Workshop” section, page 97, column 2:

     They can be obtained in various thicknesses and in many colors, including beautiful imitations of pearl, mother-of-pearl, veins and mottles, stratifications, roll stratifications, imitation corals, and all colors of translucents, transparents and opaques, grained ivory, shell (plain and corrugated mottle), onyx, wood effects, plaids, checks, stripes, metallic, bronze pearl plain, bronze pearl with fancy blocks, bronze pearl in veins and stripes, and what is called “essence pearl.”

   • 2011, Jeri L. Warhaftig, “Session 7: Silver Butterfly”, in Creating Glass Beads: A New Workshop to Expand Your Beginner Skills and Develop Your Artistic Voice, New York, N.Y.: Lark Crafts, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., →ISBN, page 86, column 1:

     The trick is to make the white core slightly smaller than the size ultimately required for the press, so that after the transparents are added, the bead won’t overflow the press cavity.

From trans- (“transgender or transsexual”) + parent.

transparent (plural transparents)

1. (nonstandard) A transgender or transsexual parent.
   • 1999, Red Jordan Arobateau, “Tales of Transman: Part II”, in Autumn Changes, [Oakland, Calif.]: Red Jordan Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 68:

     He went to tranny day in the park. Transparents & their kids. Played baseball & cooked out; hot dogs & burgers & buns on the grill.

   • 2016, Catherine L. Langford, “Trans*Forming Higher Education to Advance Workforce Diversity”, in Chaunda L. Scott, Jeanetta D. Sims, editors, Developing Workforce Diversity Programs, Curriculum, and Degrees in Higher Education (Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development), Hershey, Pa.: Information Science Reference, →ISBN, section 3 (Future Direction for Workforce Diversity in Higher Education), page 225:

     Recently the genre has expanded to consider the lives of transpersons of color as well as the experiences of transparents.

   • 2020, Lyndsey Hookway, “What about transgender co-parents?”, in Let’s Talk about Your New Family’s Sleep, London: Pinter & Martin, →ISBN, chapter 4 (Positive sleep starts in pregnancy):

     There are also important considerations and conversations that transmen need to have after birth – such as whether to chest/breastfeed, and whether supportive, knowledgeable care around the management of chest or breastfeeding is available. Please find an empathic breastfeeding counsellor or IBCLC who is familiar with supporting transparents to chest or breastfeed if you need further support.

Borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārentem (“transparent”), present active participle of transpareō, from Latin trāns + pareō.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tɾəns.pəˈɾen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [tɾəns.pəˈɾent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [tɾans.paˈɾent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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• Rhymes: -ent

transparent m or f (masculine and feminine plural transparents)

1. transparent

   Antonym: opac

• transparentment

• transparència

• “transparent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “transparent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “transparent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “transparent”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

transparent m inan

1. banner or placard

transparent

1. transparent

transparent c or n (singular definite transparenten or transparentet, plural indefinite transparenter)

1. banner
2. transparency, overhead

• (banner): banner n
• (transparency): overhead c

Borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārentem (“transparent”), present participle of transpareō, from Latin trāns + pareō.

• IPA^(key): /tʁɑ̃s.pa.ʁɑ̃/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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transparent (feminine transparente, masculine plural transparents, feminine plural transparentes)

1. transparent; see-through

   Le verre est transparent.

   The glass is transparent.

2. translucid; allowing light to pass through

   Le voile est transparent.

   The veil is translucid.

3. clear

   un ciel transparent ― a clear sky

   une lumière transparente — a clear light

4. transparent, easy to understand, unambiguous

   une allusion transparente ― an unambiguous allusion

5. unnoticed; invisible

   J'étais transparent à ses regards.

   I was invisible to him/her.

6. (figuratively) transparent; not hiding anything

   Notre comptabilité est transparente.

   Our accounting is transparent.

7. (linguistics) having the same meaning in several languages

   Antonym: faux-ami

   un mot transparent ― an international word

• transparence

• → Turkish: transparan

transparent m (plural transparents)

1. paper having ruled lines put underneath a white sheet of paper in order to write straight

   Cet enfant ne saurait écrire sans transparent.

   This child doesn't know how to write without ruled guides

2. (obsolete) screen lit from behind (now: enseigne lumineuse)

   Le soir, cette boutique avait pour enseigne un magnifique transparent.

   At night, this store had a magnificent backlit screen for a sign.

3. plastic film used to show images with an overhead, overhead transparency

   La présentation était trop rapide. J'ai à peine eu le temps de recopier les transparents.

   The presentation was too fast. I didn't even have the time to copy down the transparencies

• “transparent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• “transparent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

18th century, from French transparent.

• IPA^(key): /ˌtʁanspaˈʁɛnt/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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transparent (strong nominative masculine singular transparenter, comparative transparenter, superlative am transparentesten)

1. translucent (allowing light to pass through)

   Synonym: lichtdurchlässig

2. (less common) fully transparent; see-through

   Synonym: durchsichtig

3. (figurative) transparent

   Synonyms: durchschaubar, nachvollziehbar

• Transparent
• Transparentpapier
• Transparenz

• “transparent” in Duden online
• “transparent”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

trānspārent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of trānspāreō

From French transparent, from Medieval Latin transparens, from Latin transparere.

transparent (indefinite singular transparent, definite singular and plural transparente, comparative mer transparent, superlative mest transparent)

1. transparent (quality of a material)

• gjennomsiktig

transparent m (definite singular transparenten, indefinite plural transparenter, definite plural transparentene)
transparent n (definite singular transparentet, indefinite plural transparent or transparenter, definite plural transparenta or transparentene)

1. a banner
2. a transparency (for use with a projector)

• (banner): banner

• “transparent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From French transparent, from Medieval Latin transparens, from Latin transparere.

transparent (indefinite singular transparent, definite singular and plural transparente)

1. transparent (quality of a material)

   Synonyms: gjennomsiktig, gjennomsynleg

transparent m (definite singular transparenten, indefinite plural transparentar, definite plural transparentane)

1. a banner

   Synonym: banner

2. a transparency (for use with a projector)
3. a White Transparent cultivar of apple

• (banner; transparency): In these senses, this noun was considered grammatically neuter prior to a 2018 spelling decision.

• “transparent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from French transparent, from Medieval Latin trānspārēns, present participle of transpareō, from Latin trans + pareō.

• IPA^(key): /tranˈspa.rɛnt/

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• Rhymes: -arɛnt
• Syllabification: tran‧spa‧rent

transparent m inan

1. banner

• “transparent”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “transparent”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Borrowed from French transparent, Medieval Latin trānspārēns, trānspārēntis (“transparent”), present participle of transpareō, from Latin trans + pareō.

• IPA^(key): /ˌtran.spaˈrent/

transparent m or n (feminine singular transparentă, masculine plural transparenți, feminine/neuter plural transparente)

1. transparent

• transparență
• transpărea

• translucid
• străveziu
• clar
• limpede