noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/flʊˈɹɛsəns/
General-American:/flɔ-/
General-American:/floʊ-/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
homophone: florescence
homophone: in some pronunciations
CMU ARPABET:F L UH2 R EH1 S AH0 N S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The emission of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) by a material when stimulated by the absorption of radiation or of a subatomic particle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bhel-der. Proto-Indo-European *bhlewH-der. Proto-Indo-European *bhluH-yé-ti? Latin fluō Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin fluorbor. English fluor Proto-Indo-European *-tósder. Ancient Greek -της (-tēs)der. Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs)der. Latin -ītēsbor. French -iteder. English -ite English fluorite Middle Low German sparder. Old English spærstān Middle English sparston English sparstonebf. English spar blend English fluorspar Proto-Indo-European *-éh1ti Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1sḱeti Proto-Italic *-ēskō Latin -ēscō Latin -escensder. English -escence English fluorescence Coined by British physicist George Stokes in 1852 from fluorspar + -escence.
Across languages
Translations
20 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
fluoresensie
— emission of light
Basque:
fluoreszentzia
— emission of light
Catalan:
fluorescència
— emission of light
Chinese Cantonese:
熒光 /荧光
(jing4 gwong1)
— emission of light
Chinese Mandarin:
熒光 /荧光
(yíngguāng)
— emission of light
Esperanto:
fluoresko
— emission of light
Finnish:
fluoresenssi
— emission of light
French:
fluorescence
— emission of light
German:
Fluoreszenz
— emission of light
Greek:
φθορισμός
(fthorismós)
— emission of light
Hindi:
प्रतिदीप्ति
(pratidīpti)
— emission of light
Indonesian:
fluoresen
— emission of light
Japanese:
蛍光
(keikō)
— emission of light
Kazakh:
әлсіз сәулелену
(älsız säulelenu)
— emission of light