phosphorescent

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛsənt

Etymology

From phosphorus +‎ -escent.
It's interesting to note that phosphorus is not phosphorescent. Some phosphoric mixtures can be luminescent through chemical reactions, but none exhibit literal phosphorescence.

Adjective

phosphorescent (comparative more phosphorescent, superlative most phosphorescent)

1. Having the property of emitting light for a period of time after the source of excitation is taken away, e.g., in electrostatic storage tubes and cathode-ray tubes.
   • 1966 [1961], William S. Burroughs, The Soft Machine (The Nova Trilogy), New York: Grove Press, page 11:

     So he imports this special breed of scorpions and feeds them on metal meal and the scorpions turned a phosphorescent blue color and sort of hummed.

Derived terms

• phosphorescence
• phosphorescently

Related terms

• phosphor
• phosphoresce
• phosphoroscope

Translations

emitting light for a period of time after the source of excitation is taken away

• Bulgarian: фосфоресциращ (bg) (fosforescirašt)
• Catalan: fosforescent
• Czech: fosforeskující
• Esperanto: fosforeska
• Finnish: fosforoiva
• French: phosphorescent (fr)
• Galician: fosforescente
• Greek: φωσφορίζων (el) (fosforízon)
• Italian: fosforescente (it)
• Occitan: fosforescent (oc)
• Polish: fosforescencyjny
• Portuguese: fosforescente (pt)
• Spanish: fosforescente (es)
• Tagalog: mapospowanag
• Welsh: ffosfforeddol

Noun

phosphorescent (plural phosphorescents)

1. A phosphorescent substance.

French

Etymology

From phosphore +‎ -escent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔs.fɔ.ʁɛ.sɑ̃/, /fɔs.fɔ.ʁe.sɑ̃/

Adjective

phosphorescent (feminine phosphorescente, masculine plural phosphorescents, feminine plural phosphorescentes)

1. phosphorescent

See also

• luminescent

Further reading

• “phosphorescent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.