(sʌbˈvɪzɪbəl) or subvisual (sʌbˈvɪzjʊəl, sʌbˈvɪʒʊəl)
adjective
1. physics
too small to be visible to the naked eye, not quite visible
a subvisible particle
2. meteorology
(of a cloud) too thin to be seen
a subvisible cirrus cloud
subvisible in American English
(sʌbˈvɪzəbəl)
adjective
invisible unless viewed through a microscope
Word origin
[sub- + visible]sub- is a prefix occurring originally in loanwords from Latin (subject; subtract; subvert; subsidy). On this model, sub- is freely attached to elements of any origin and used with the meaning “under,” “below,”“beneath” (subalpine; substratum), “slightly,” “imperfectly,” “nearly” (subcolumnar; subtropical), “secondary,” “subordinate” (subcommittee; subplot)
Examples of 'subvisible' in a sentence
subvisible
Heterogeneous ice nuclei such as mineral dust were not enhanced in these subvisible cirrus residuals.
K. D. Froyd, D. M. Murphy, P. Lawson, D. Baumgardner, R. L. Herman 2010, 'Aerosols that form subvisible cirrus at the tropical tropopause', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physicshttp://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/209/2010/acp-10-209-2010.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Recent laboratory studies provide heterogeneous nucleation scenarios that may explain tropopause level subvisible cirrus formation.
K. D. Froyd, D. M. Murphy, P. Lawson, D. Baumgardner, R. L. Herman 2010, 'Aerosols that form subvisible cirrus at the tropical tropopause', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physicshttp://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/209/2010/acp-10-209-2010.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
This may reflect the greater importance of other features, including subvisible pathology, or methodological limitations of the primary literature.
Daisy Mollison, Robin Sellar, Mark Bastin, Denis Mollison, Siddharthan Chandran, JoannaWardlaw, Peter Connick 2017, 'The clinico-radiological paradox of cognitive function and MRI burden of white matterlesions in people with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.',PLoS ONEhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5432109?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Persistent contrails observed with a camera were frequently embedded in these thin or subvisible cirrus clouds.
D. Engelbart, K. Krüger, R. Treffeisen, F. Immler, O. Schrems 2008, 'Cirrus, contrails, and ice supersaturated regions in high pressure systems at northernmid latitudes', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physicshttp://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/1689/2008/acp-8-1689-2008.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)