phosphoresce

/ˌfɒs.fəˈɹɛs/

phosphoresce means to exhibit phosphorescence. It carries an Arena rating of 1728, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.

phosphoresce is pronounced /ˌfɒs.fəˈɹɛs/.

Why “phosphoresce” is a great word

To emit a cold, persistent light after absorbing energy, a ghostly afterglow that lingers once its source has vanished. From the base 'phosphor' (from phosphorus, the light-bearing element) + the verb-forming suffix '-esce' (denoting the beginning of a process or state). First coined circa 1794. Unlike "fluoresce," which is an immediate, obedient echo that vanishes with its cause, or "incandesce," a blaze born of tangible fire, to phosphoresce is to hold luminosity in trust. It is the ocean's ghostly wake at midnight, the faint breath of a glow-in-the-dark star, and the soft, green persistence of a firefly's abdomen in the absolute dark—a faint, persistent testimony that some forms of memory are written not in heat, but in light.

Etymology

From phosphor + -esce, first coined c. 1794.

verb

To exhibit phosphorescence