luminescence

lu·min·es·cence
L1U1M3I1N1E1S1C3E1N1C3E1
/ˌluː.məˈnɛs.əns/

noun

Any emission of light that cannot be attributed merely to the temperature of the emitting body.

Similar
glow
OriginLatin lumen ← Proto-Italic *louksmən ← Proto-Indo-European *léwksmn̥ →
Less commonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounluminescence (countable and uncountable, plural luminescences)

plural luminescences

  1. countableuncountablenatural sciencesAny emission of light that cannot be attributed merely to the temperature of the emitting body.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounlight from nonthermal sources

Similar
glow
Broader
luminositybrightnessbrightness level
Also see
glow

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*léwksmn̥
  3. Proto-Italic*louksmən
  4. Latinlumen
  5. Englishluminescence

From Latin lumen + English -escence.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic ضِيَائِيَّة, تَأَلُّق
  • ضِيَائِيَّة (ḍiyāʔiyya)emission
  • تَأَلُّق (taʔalluq)emission
Basque lumineszentzia
  • lumineszentziaemission
Catalan luminescència
  • luminescènciaemission
Chinese Mandarin 冷光
  • 冷光 (lěngguāng)emission
Czech luminiscence
  • luminiscenceemission
Finnish luminesenssi
  • luminesenssiemission
French luminescence
  • luminescenceemission
German Lumineszenz
  • Lumineszenzemission
Irish lonracht
  • lonrachtemission
Italian luminescenza
  • luminescenzaemission
Lithuanian švietà
  • švietàemission
Māori aho hīnātore
  • aho hīnātoreemission
Norwegian Bokmål luminescens
  • luminescensemission
Persian تابناکی
  • تابناکی (tâbnâki)emission
Polish luminescencja
  • luminescencjaemission
Portuguese luminescência
  • luminescênciaemission
Romanian luminiscență
  • luminiscențăemission
Russian свече́ние, люминесце́нция
  • свече́ние (svečénije)emission
  • люминесце́нция (ljuminescéncija)emission
Spanish luminiscencia
  • luminiscenciaemission
Tagalog sanag, kasanagan
  • sanagemission
  • kasanaganemission
Tamil ஒளிப்பாயம்
  • ஒளிப்பாயம் (oḷippāyam)emission
Turkish ışıldama
  • ışıldamaemission
Ukrainian світі́ння, сві́чення
  • світі́ння (svitínnja)emission
  • сві́чення (svíčennja)emission
  • люмінесце́нція (ljuminescéncija)emission

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with luminescence

essenceobsolescenceiridescencecalescencedecalescencedelitescenceexcrescenceincalescencerecalescencerequiescence
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

luminescence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/luminescence

MLA

“luminescence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/luminescence. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “luminescence,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/luminescence.

Source: luminescence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.