scintillation
/ˌsɪn.tɪˈleɪ.ʃən/
scintillation means A flash of light; a spark. It carries an Arena rating of 1908, earned across 11 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, scintillation ranks #754 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #936 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,080 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #1,249 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
scintillation is pronounced /ˌsɪn.tɪˈleɪ.ʃən/.
Why “scintillation” is a great word
A flash or sparkle of light, especially the rapid, irregular twinkling of a star caused by atmospheric turbulence or the singular flash produced by a phosphor absorbing radiation. From the Latin scintillātiōn- (stem of scintillātiō), from scintillāre ("to sparkle"), from scintilla ("spark"); first recorded in English use 1615–25. Unlike "luminescence," which implies a steady, enduring glow, or "glitter," which suggests a showy, scattered reflection, scintillation is a staccato event—a brief, brilliant rebellion against darkness or inertia. It is the star's signal scrambled by a hundred miles of churning air, the sudden, silent flash in a detector registering cosmic violence, the impossible spark struck from cold flint in the profound dark—light not as presence, but as event: fleeting, irreducible, alive.
Etymology
From scintillate + -ion.
noun
- A flash of light; a spark.
- The twinkling of a star or other celestial body caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.
- The flash of light produced by something (especially a phosphor) when it absorbs ionizing radiation.
- A brief expression that is amusing or clever; witticism.e.g.“[…]here and there were Latin inscriptions—obscene scintillations of wit[…]” — 1869, Mark Twain, chapter XXXI, in The Innocents Abroad, page 333:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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