My word for today is cataract. Last week, I had my second cataract surgery and am now looking forward to being able to drive again.

I knew that cataract referred to the process of the clear lens of the eye becoming cloudy, with subsequent affect on the vision. What I didn’t know was that the origin of the word is the Latin cataracta meaning waterfall. It is believed that the cloudiness of the lens of the eye might represent the effect of a waterfall, the fast-moving water causing clouds.