incandescence
Americannoun
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the emission of visible light by a body, caused by its high temperature.
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the light produced by such an emission.
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the quality of being incandescent.
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The emission of visible light from a substance or object as a result of heating it to a high temperature. The color of the light emitted from solids and liquids is a function of their chemical structure and their temperature; the higher the temperature, the more intense and even the distribution of frequencies is (that is, higher temperatures create brighter and whiter light than lower temperatures).
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Compare fluorescence See also blackbody radiation
Other Word Forms
- nonincandescence noun
Etymology
Origin of incandescence
First recorded in 1650–60; incandesc(ent) + -ence
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This profile from Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill is a bid to reclaim the valuable heat of Pallenberg’s incandescence, while never shielding viewers from her life’s lasting burn marks.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2024
These fragments themselves pancaked, creating a series of brief but powerful flashes of light as they heated to incandescence.
From Scientific American • Feb. 15, 2023
“Spots of incandescence may remain near the vent, along channels, and at the flow front for days or weeks as the lava flows cool,” the observatory’s activity summary said.
From Washington Times • Dec. 13, 2022
But when the sun slipped free of cloud, and shone on them and they burst into golden incandescence, we could almost hear a symphony, approaching crescendo, proclaiming the glory of the season.
From Washington Post • Nov. 5, 2022
Great swathes of incandescence trembled and parted like angels’ wings beating; cascades of luminescent glory tumbled down invisible crags to lie in swirling pools or hang like vast waterfalls.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
