fluorescent
fluorescent Lexical Profile
fluorescent Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Vividly bright and glowing in color, as if emitting light.
"Construction workers wore fluorescent orange vests so motorists could see them clearly in the fog."
Having or relating to fluorescence; emitting visible light when exposed to ultraviolet or other radiation.
"The geologist used an ultraviolet lamp to identify the fluorescent minerals in the rock sample."
• noun
A fluorescent lamp, tube, or light fixture.
"The office manager replaced the flickering overhead fluorescents with energy-efficient LED panels."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often misspelled as "florescent" (which means flowering or blooming); remember the "u" in "fluorescent" comes from the mineral fluorite. Unlike phosphorescent materials, which continue to glow in the dark after a light source is removed, fluorescent materials stop glowing almost immediately once the radiation ceases.
• Rhymes for fluorescent
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1852 by physicist George Gabriel Stokes from the mineral fluor-spar (fluorite), which exhibits this light-emitting property, combined with the suffix -escent (after the pattern of opalescent). Fluorite itself derives from Latin fluere ("to flow"), because the mineral melts easily and was used as a flux in smelting.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.