luminosity

American  

[loo-muh-nos-i-tee] / ˌlu məˈnɒs ɪ ti /

noun

plural

luminosities

1. luminance.

2. the quality of being intellectually brilliant, enlightened, inspired, etc..

   The luminosity of his poetry is unequaled.

3. something luminous.

4. Astronomy. the brightness of a star in comparison with that of the sun: the luminosity of Sirius expressed as 23 indicates an intrinsic brightness 23 times as great as that of the sun.

5. Also called luminosity factor.  Optics. the brightness of a light source of a certain wavelength as it appears to the eye, measured as the ratio of luminous flux to radiant flux at that wavelength.

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luminosity British  

/ ˌluːmɪˈnɒsɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being luminous

2. something that is luminous

3. astronomy a measure of the radiant power emitted by a star

4. Former name: brightness.  physics the attribute of an object or colour enabling the extent to which an object emits light to be observed See also colour

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Other Word Forms

• nonluminosity noun
• self-luminosity noun

Etymology

Origin of luminosity

1625–35; < Latin lūminōs ( us ) luminous + -ity

Example Sentences

Both rotation velocity and luminosity are effective parameters to estimate the amount of gas accreted.

From Science Daily

“I have no medium that can give me color of such wonderful luminosity as the Autochrome plate,” wrote the photographer Edward Steichen in 1908.

From The Wall Street Journal

These fanciful instances benefit from Mari Fukuhara’s score, a drizzle of aural luminosity.

From Los Angeles Times

"This allows us to help explain the extreme luminosities of active galactic nuclei as well as the acceleration of particles to nearly the speed of light."

From Science Daily

The Guardian's three star review said his "words glitter with feeling" and added that he "singularly shines, his luminosity putting the others slightly in the shade".

From BBC