phosphorescence
Americannoun
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the property of being luminous at temperatures below incandescence, as from slow oxidation in the case of phosphorus or after exposure to light or other radiation.
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a luminous appearance resulting from this.
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any luminous radiation emitted from a substance after the removal of the exciting agent.
noun
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physics
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a fluorescence that persists after the bombarding radiation producing it has stopped
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a fluorescence for which the average lifetime of the excited atoms is greater than 10 –8 seconds
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the light emitted in phosphorescence
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the emission of light during a chemical reaction, such as bioluminescence, in which insufficient heat is evolved to cause fluorescence Compare fluorescence
Other Word Forms
- semiphosphorescence noun
Etymology
Origin of phosphorescence
First recorded in 1790–1800; phosphoresc(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.
The music stops, the lights return to the usual sickly phosphorescence, and the administrator pulls his usual demeanor back to formality as everyone recovers from their shock.
From Salon
Abiotic minerals also emit their own light, called phosphorescence.
From Scientific American
But the phosphorescence of her work is not dimmed.
From New York Times
Visitors come for its “blue tears,” a phosphorescence in the waters caused by algae.
From Washington Post
Unfortunately, the phosphorescence also gives the sails the slightest green tinge in daylight.
From Washington Post
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.
