Etymology

fluoresce

F4L1U1O1R1E1S1C3E1

Today it means: To emit electromagnetic radiation, especially visible light, when absorbing radiation of some other wavelength. Full definition →

English fluorescencebf. ← Middle English sparston ← Old English spærstān
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰlewH-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*bʰluH-yé-ti?
  4. Latinfluō
  5. Latinfluor
  6. Englishfluor
  7. Englishfluorite
  8. Middle Low Germanspar
  9. Old Englishspærstān
  10. Middle Englishsparston
  11. Englishsparstonebf.
  12. Englishspar
  13. Englishfluorspar
  14. Englishfluorescencebf.
  15. English todayfluoresce

Back-formation from fluorescence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.