Link Centre Dictionary

phosphorescent

phosp·ho·res·cent

uncommon

adjective

1.

emitting light without appreciable heat as by slow oxidation of phosphorous

  • “the phosphorescent glow of decaying wood”
Similar

Origin

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.

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.