Affected by a cataract or cataracts, especially describing eyes that are clouded by the eye disease; also describing something like a rushing cataract or waterfall.
From 'cataract' with the suffix '-ed,' indicating a state or condition. Medical use developed to describe patients whose eyes have developed the clouding condition, while poetic use described turbulent waters.
The Romantic poets loved describing 'cataracted' waterfalls, and many famous paintings show the power of these 'cataracted' falls, proving that the waterfall meaning of the word survived thousands of years before ophthalmology became scientific.
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