earthshine means sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface, especially when visible on the part of the Moon's surface not illuminated by the Sun (the night side); earthlight. It carries an Arena rating of 1709, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, earthshine ranks #257 of 17,111 for Most Sublime Words, #656 of 17,137 for Most Exacting Words, #696 of 17,120 for Most Beautiful Words, #986 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words.
earthshine is pronounced /ˈɜːθʃaɪn/.
Why “earthshine” is a great word
Earthshine is the faint secondary glow on the darkened limb of a crescent Moon, cast by sunlight reflected from the Earth's oceans and clouds back into lunar night. From earth + shine (noun), modelled after the older word moonshine ("moonlight"). First recorded in 1825–35. Unlike "moonshine"—which is the Moon's own reflected light seen from Earth—or "albedo"—the technical measure of a surface's reflectivity—earthshine is the specific, visible phenomenon of our planet's borrowed luminescence painting the lunar night. It is the pale, ashen light that reveals the "old Moon in the new Moon's arms," the ghostly outline of a world made visible only in its own returned glow, the quiet reciprocity of illumination in the void; a reminder that even in shadow, we are never without light to cast upon the dark.
Etymology
From earth + shine (noun), modelled after moonshine.
noun
- Sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface, especially when visible on the part of the Moon's surface not illuminated by the Sun (the night side); earthlight.
Words closest in meaning
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