Etymology

bioluminescence

bi·o·lu·mi·nes·cence
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Today it means: The emission of light by a living organism (such as a firefly). Full definition →

English luminescence ← Latin lumen ← Proto-Italic *louksmən
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Ancient Greekβῐ́ος (bĭ́os)
  3. Ancient Greekβῐο- (bĭo-)
  4. Englishbio-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*léwksmn̥
  7. Proto-Italic*louksmən
  8. Latinlumen
  9. Englishluminescence
  10. English todaybioluminescence

From bio- + luminescence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.