emission

American  

[ih-mish-uhn] / ɪˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

1. an act or instance of emitting.

   the emission of poisonous fumes.

2. something that is emitted; discharge; emanation.

3. an act or instance of issuing, as paper money.

4. Electronics. a measure of the number of electrons emitted by the heated filament or cathode of a vacuum tube.

5. an ejection or discharge of semen or other fluid from the body.

   Synonyms:

   ejaculation

6. the fluid ejected or discharged.

   Synonyms:

   ejaculate

---

emission British  

/ ɪˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of emitting or sending forth

2. energy, in the form of heat, light, radio waves, etc, emitted from a source

3. a substance, fluid, etc, that is emitted; discharge

4. a measure of the number of electrons emitted by a cathode or electron gun See also secondary emission thermionic emission

   at 1000°C the emission is 3 mA

5. physiol any bodily discharge, esp an involuntary release of semen during sleep

6. an issue, as of currency

---

Usage

What does emission mean? An emission is something that has been emitted—released or discharged. In general, emissions consist of things like gas, liquid, heat, sound, light, and radiation.Emissions can come from natural sources or from machines. A specific example of an emission is the exhaust from cars (in the U.S., such emissions are regulated through emissions tests). This exhaust is just one form of carbon emissions—greenhouse gases from various sources that are known to contribute to global warming and climate change.Emission can also refer to an instance or the process of emitting, as in This filter is designed to reduce the emission of light. Example: Carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes are much lower than those from cars and airplanes.

Other Word Forms

• emissive adjective
• nonemission noun
• reemission noun

Etymology

Origin of emission

First recorded in 1600–10; from Middle French or directly from Latin ēmissiōn- (stem of ēmissiō ), equivalent to ēmiss(us), past participle of ēmittere “to send forth” ( ē- “from, out of” + mit-, stem of mittere “to send” + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- noun suffix; emit, e- ¹, -ion

Example Sentences

Moreover, to minimize their losses, manufacturers focused on large, luxurious EVs whose life-cycle emissions were virtually guaranteed to be greater than the cars they were supposedly displacing.

From The Wall Street Journal

The government wants to ramp up renewables even more quickly to help meet its own clean power goal and reduce its planet-warming carbon emissions.

From BBC

That included cutting a scheme that was designed to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions, as well as shifting some costs onto general taxation.

From BBC

It predicts some 38.1 billion metric tons of fossil carbon dioxide emissions this year alone.

From Salon

Another feedback loop was identified along Arctic coastlines, where chemicals in salty snowpacks interact with emissions from oil field operations.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• discharge
• radiation