Fluorescent
/ˌflʊəˈrɛsənt/noun
Emitting visible light after absorbing radiation, or brightly glowing with vivid light.
Did you know?Fluorescent comes from fluorite, named from Latin fluere, meaning “to flow,” because the mineral melts easily in smelting — the glow came later, but the root is ancient and liquid.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰleu-
“to flow, swell”
Latin
Latin
fluere
“to flow”
Late Latin
Latin
fluor
“a flowing; flux”
19th Century
English
fluorescence
“the property of certain substances to glow under radiation”
19th Century
English
fluorescent
“emitting fluorescence; later, brightly lit by fluorescent lamps”
Modern English
English
fluorescent
“emitting or relating to fluorescence”