Presenting multiple bright refractile colors, typically as a result of optical interference when incident white light is broken into its spectral components when reflected back through several thin-layered films. [G. iris, rainbow]
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ir·i·des·cent .ir-ə-'des-ənt adj having or exhibiting a display of colors producing rainbow effects
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iri·des·cent (ir″ĭ-desґənt) [Gr. iris rainbow] having a rainbow-like display of colors in reflected light, as in mother-of-pearl; said of a colony of microorganisms.Medical dictionary. 2011.