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irradiation

American  
[ih-rey-dee-ey-shuhn] / ɪˌreɪ diˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the act of irradiating.

  2. the state of being irradiated.

  3. intellectual or spiritual enlightenment.

  4. a ray of light; beam.

  5. Optics. the apparent enlargement of an object when seen against a dark background.

  6. the use of x-rays or other forms of radiation for the treatment of disease, the making of x-ray photographs, the manufacture of vitamin D, etc.

  7. exposure or the process of exposure to x-rays or other radiation.

  8. Physics. irradiance.


irradiation British  
/ ɪˌreɪdɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

  1. the act or process of irradiating or the state of being irradiated

  2. the apparent enlargement of a brightly lit object when it is viewed against a dark background

  3. a shaft of light; beam or ray

  4. med

    1. the therapeutic or diagnostic use of radiation, esp X-rays

    2. exposure of a patient to such radiation

  5. another name for radiation irradiance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of irradiation

First recorded in 1580–90, irradiation is from the Late Latin word irradiātiōn- (stem of irradiātiō ). See ir- 1, radiation

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.

See Examples For:

In south India, there is exactly one irradiation center, in Bengaluru, creating a bottleneck every spring.

From The Wall Street Journal May 4, 2026

He even visited a nuclear research facility in India to learn more about the irradiation process.

From The Wall Street Journal May 4, 2026

Their work also incorporates a technique called hot-wire laser irradiation.

From Science Daily Mar. 13, 2026

In addition to demonstrating how electron irradiation drives polymerization and restructuring, the experiment revealed TEM's potential for studying controlled reactions in other organic molecules as well.

From Science Daily Oct. 29, 2025

The following year, doctors working with John Lawrence conceived a new use for the cyclotron: the direct irradiation of patients.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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