incandescence
/ˌɪn.kænˈdɛs.əns/
incandescence means the emission of visible light by a hot body.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, incandescence ranks #7,220 of 14,456 for The Improbable.
incandescence is pronounced /ˌɪn.kænˈdɛs.əns/.
Why “incandescence” is a great word
The emission of visible light from a body as a result of its high temperature, or the light so emitted; figuratively, a state of intense, glowing emotion. From French incandescence, from Latin incandescere ("to become hot, glow"), from in- (intensive prefix) + candescere ("to become white, glow"), from candere ("to shine, be white"), first recorded in English in the 1650s. Unlike "luminescence," a cooler glimmer from chemical or electrical action, or "ire," a blunt and steady fury, incandescence is the furious marriage of heat and light. It is the filament burning itself to visibility, the branding iron pulled from the coals, the star consuming itself to shine—a brilliant, wasteful, and temporary victory against the cold dark, the moment when feeling, like light, can no longer be contained.
Etymology
Borrowed from French incandescence. Morphologically incandesce + -ence.
noun
- the emission of visible light by a hot body
- the light so emitted
- great emotion, especially anger“That sensual triggering which is to awaken them into the incandescence of Gay Consciousness to which world of Spirit a loving sexual flowering is both "open sesame" and Gateway.”
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