Standard Lemma guide

ultraviolet

adj · noun · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌʌltɹəˈvaɪələt/
  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌʌltɹəˈvaɪlət/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH2 L T R AH0 V AY1 AH0 L IH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of electromagnetic radiation beyond (higher in frequency than) light visible to the human eye; radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Relating to very high energies or very small distances or time spans.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: infrared

3

noun

Meaning 3

Ultraviolet colour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

having or employing wavelengths shorter than light but longer than X-rays; lying outside the visible spectrum at its violet end

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • ultraviolet radiation
  • an ultraviolet lamp

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

radiation lying in the ultraviolet range; wave lengths shorter than light but longer than X rays

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ultraviolet radiation, ultraviolet light, ultraviolet illumination, UV

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: actinic radiation, actinic ray

Narrower terms: sunray, sun-ray

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2el- Latin ūls Proto-Indo-European *-teros? Latin -ter Old Latin -ād Latin -ā Latin ultrābor. English ultra- Latin viola Old French -ette Old French violettebor. Middle English violet English violet English ultraviolet From ultra- (“beyond”) + violet (“violet”).

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: ультрафіяле́тавы (ulʹtrafijaljétavy) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Catalan: ultraviolat — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Chinese Mandarin: 紫外 (zǐwài) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Czech: ultrafialový — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Danish: ultraviolet — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Dutch: ultraviolet — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Esperanto: ultraviola — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Finnish: ultravioletti — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • French: ultraviolet — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Galician: ultravioleta — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Georgian: ულტრაიისფერი (ulṭraiisperi) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • German: ultraviolett — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Hindi: पराबैंगनी (parābaiṅgnī) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Hindi: अतिनील (atinīl) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Hungarian: ibolyántúli — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Hungarian: ultraibolya — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Hungarian: ultraviola — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Icelandic: útfjólublátt — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Interlingua: ultraviolette — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Irish: ultraivialait — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Italian: ultravioletto — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Japanese: 紫外線の (shigaisen no) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Kazakh: ультракүлгін (ultrakülgın) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Khmer: ស្វាយអ៊ុលត្រា (svaay ʼultraa) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Khmer: អ៊ុលត្រាវីយូឡេ (ʼultraaviiyuulee) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Northern Kurdish: tîroja serbinefşî — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Macedonian: ултравиоле́тов (ultraviolétov) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Malay: ultraungu — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Mongolian: хэт ягаан (xet jagaan) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Norwegian: ultrafiolett — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Persian: فرابنفش (farâbanafš) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Polish: ultrafioletowy — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Portuguese: ultravioleta — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Russian: ультрафиоле́товый (ulʹtrafiolétovyj) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Scottish Gaelic: os-bhiolait — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Spanish: ultravioleta — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Swedish: ultraviolett — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Turkish: morötesi — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Turkish: ultraviyole — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Ukrainian: ультрафіоле́товий (ulʹtrafiolétovyj) — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Vietnamese: cực tím — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Vietnamese: tử ngoại — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Welsh: uwchfioled — radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres
  • Catalan: ultraviolat — colour
  • German: Ultraviolett — colour
  • Hindi: पराबैंगनी (parābaiṅgnī) — colour
  • Japanese: 紫外 (shigai) — colour
  • Polish: ultrafiolet — colour
  • Portuguese: ultravioleta — colour
  • Russian: ультрафиоле́т (ulʹtrafiolét) — colour
  • Scottish Gaelic: os-bhiolait — colour
  • Swahili: urujuanimno — colour