Luciferin

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of a class of polycyclic heterocycles that are responsible for the bioluminescence of fireflies, being converted to oxyluciferin by luciferase in the process.

    "Aptly enough, glowworms light up their underworld with a pair of chemicals that have a satanic etymology—luciferins and luciferases, after the Latin for “light bringer.”"

  2. 2
    pigment occurring in luminescent organisms (as fireflies); emits heatless light when undergoing oxidation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
fata morganafireflyfluorescencefox fireglowwormignis fatuus

Example

More examples

"Back in the 1980s, scientists developed a glowing plant, but it required the injection of luciferin, a compound found in many bioluminescent organisms."

Etymology

From Latin lūcifer (“light bringer”) + -in.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.