Words / P / Medicine

photopsia

noun/fəˈtɒpsiə/

C2CEFR level
95/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

The perception of flashes of light in the absence of an external light source, often signalling vitreoretinal traction.

The photopsia she described in the temporal field raised concern about a retinal tear.

Similar: flashes

Topic: Ophthalmology in Medical English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More medicine words: Ophthalmology