Meanings
- pluralrareplural of candela
Fig. 1 / The visual recovery in the dark after pre-adaptation to 15.5×10³ photopic candelae /m², as studied in the Goldmann and Weekers’ adaptometer.
1971, Symposium on Electroretinography: Proceedings of the 7th Symposium of ISCERG, September 14-18, 1969, page 233 more examples
The form of the plural, too, calls for consideration. The Latin is candelae and the Italian candele, but candelas has already been used officially in Belgium and will probably be used in France. It will almost certainly be preferred in this country and in America, where candelae would be deemed pedantic.
[1949, “Some New Terms in Photometry and Illumination”, in Light and Lighting and Environmental Design, “The Candela”, page 155, column 2The luminous intensity of this source of light has been defined as 60 candelae per cm² in the direction of the normal to the surface.[…]Nowadays however, candelae per m² are often used as the unit for luminance.
1964, Sölve Stenström, Optics and the Eye, pages 31, 32Candelae are calculated on the basis of a perfect or “ideal black-body” irradiation equal to solidifying platinum at a temperature of 2042 K. The luminous intensity of such a system is 60 candelae/sq cm when measured[…]
1982, Raymond E. Records, “Light and Photometry”, in Duane’s Biomedical Foundations of Ophthalmology (Biomedical Foundations of Ophthalmology; 2), →ISBN, “Luminous Intensity”, page 9, columns 1–2
Origin
- Latincandēlae
- Englishcandelae
From Latin candēlae, plural of candēla.
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Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
candelae. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candelae
“candelae.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candelae. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “candelae,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candelae.
Source: candelae on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.