Phosphorescence

//ˌfɒs.fəˈɹɛs.əns// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The emission of light without any perceptible heat; the quality of being phosphorescent. countable, uncountable

    "Mr. Nott proceeded to say that "since the discovery of Photography, there is, perhaps, no branch of electrical physics more interest­ing than that which comprehends the pheno­mena of phosphorescence.""

  2. 2
    a fluorescence that persists after the bombarding radiation has ceased wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
autoluminescencebioluminescencecathode luminescencechemicoluminescencechemiluminescencecorposant

Example

More examples

"Mr. Nott proceeded to say that "since the discovery of Photography, there is, perhaps, no branch of electrical physics more interest­ing than that which comprehends the pheno­mena of phosphorescence.""

Etymology

From phosphorescent. Morphologically phosphoresce + -ence.

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