phosphorescence

[fos-fuh-res-uh ns] /ˌfɒs fəˈrɛs əns/
noun
1.
the property of being luminous at temperatures below incandescence, as from slow oxidation in the case of phosphorus or after exposure to light or other radiation.
2.
a luminous appearance resulting from this.
3.
any luminous radiation emitted from a substance after the removal of the exciting agent.
Origin
1790-1800; phosphoresc(ent) + -ence
Related forms
semiphosphorescence, noun
Examples from the web for phosphorescence
  • These organisms dart away from boats, leaving eerie blue-white trails of phosphorescence.
  • At night, they may dive for schooling squid that are visible because of their phosphorescence.
  • Now scientists have found that this red phosphorescence may be the key to distinguishing all real blue diamonds from the fakes.
  • The city, as a local wit has said, gives off the phosphorescence of decay.
  • The covering of dirt was so thin that at night a strange phosphorescence emanated from the ground.
  • And soon the grazing pasture erupted in places with bright soft intermittent flashes, a lemon phosphorescence.
  • The outrigger sliced through waves that glowed with the phosphorescence of small plankton.
  • Around us, plankton causes the water's surface to give off a gleam of eerie phosphorescence.
  • phosphorescence is demonstrated by objects that continue to glow after an external light source is removed.
  • Natural phosphorescence give its eellike skin an eerie glow.
British Dictionary definitions for phosphorescence

phosphorescence

/ˌfɒsfəˈrɛsəns/
noun
1.
(physics)
  1. a fluorescence that persists after the bombarding radiation producing it has stopped
  2. a fluorescence for which the average lifetime of the excited atoms is greater than 10–8 seconds
2.
the light emitted in phosphorescence
3.
the emission of light during a chemical reaction, such as bioluminescence, in which insufficient heat is evolved to cause fluorescence Compare fluorescence
Word Origin and History for phosphorescence
n.

1796, from verb phosphoresce (1794; see phosphorescent) + -ence.

phosphorescence in Medicine

phosphorescence phos·pho·res·cence (fŏs'fə-rěs'əns)
n.

  1. Persistent emission of light following exposure to and removal of incident radiation.

  2. Emission of light without burning or by very slow burning without appreciable heat, as from the slow oxidation of phosphorous.

phos'pho·res'cent adj.
phosphorescence in Science
phosphorescence
  (fŏs'fə-rěs'əns)   

  1. The emission of light by a substance as a result of having absorbed energy from a form of electromagnetic radiation, such as visible light or x-rays. Unlike fluorescence, phosphorescence continues for a short while after the source of radiation is removed. Glow-in-the-dark products are phosphorescent. Compare fluorescence.

  2. The light produced in this way.