luminescent

[ loo-muh-nes-uhnt ]

adjective

1. emitting light that is not caused by incandescence and that occurs at a temperature below that of incandescent bodies:

   The luminescent watch hands glow 100 times brighter than those on standard watches, allowing wearers to read the time in complete darkness.

2. glowing or shining, or producing an impression of light; lustrous; radiant:

   Her gloriously luminescent voice, described by the New York Times as "hauntingly clear," evokes other-worldly sounds wafting from a mountaintop convent.

Other Words From

• non·lu·mi·nes·cent adjective
• un·lu·mi·nes·cent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of luminescent¹

First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin lūmin-, stem of lūmen “light” + -escent ( def )

Example Sentences

The bulb suggests enlightenment, while those old clay vessels, sometimes used as grave markers or funerary offerings, lend a spiritual dimension to Eliasson’s luminescent sight.

From Los Angeles Times

Traditional color mixing techniques, which use dyes or luminescent materials, are limited to passive and fixed color representation.

From Science Daily

At the same time, they made the ARF7 protein luminescent, which is the protein that controls the auxin responses and which the plant cell's garbage collectors clean up to provide optimal root growth.

From Science Daily

The new method employs luminescent proteins, chemical cousins of the bioluminescent proteins found in fireflies.

From Science Daily

Nanomaterials at this length scale, such as semiconductor quantum dots, can be highly luminescent and exhibit different colors.

From Science Daily