incandescent

Borrowed from French incandescent, from Latin incandescens, from incandesco (“be heated, glow”), from in- (intensifying prefix) +‎ candesco (“become white”), from candidus (“white”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.kænˈdɛs.ənt/, /ˌɪŋ.kænˈdɛs.ənt/, /ˌɪn.kənˈdɛs.ənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.kænˈdɛs.ənt/, /ˌɪn.kənˈdɛs.ənt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsənt

incandescent (comparative more incandescent, superlative most incandescent)

1. Emitting light as a result of being heated.
   • 1959, Tom Lehrer (lyrics and music), “We Will All Go Together When We Go”:

     We will all go together when we go / All suffused with an incandescent glow

2. Shining very brightly.
   • 2013 November 27, John Grotzinger, “The world of Mars [print version: International Herald Tribune Magazine, 2013, p. 36]”, in The New York Times‎:

     Those multitoned buttes and mesas [of the Grand Canyon], and that incandescent sequence of colorful bands that make one of the natural wonders of the world so grand, can also be found over 100 million miles away [on Mars].

3. (figurative) Showing intense emotion, as of a performance, etc.

• incandescent lamp

• incandescence
• incandescently

incandescent (plural incandescents)

1. An incandescent lamp or bulb
   • 2007 March 1, Matthew L. Wald, “Room to Improve”, in New York Times‎:

     Compact fluorescents are typically rated at 7,500 to 10,000 hours, and incandescents at about 1,500 hours.

• fluorescent

From Latin incandescentem, from incandesco (“be heated, glow”), from in- (“intensifying prefix”) + candesco (“become white”), from candidus (“white”).

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kɑ̃.dɛ.sɑ̃/, /ɛ̃.kɑ̃.de.sɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: incandescents
• Hyphenation: in‧can‧de‧scent

incandescent (feminine incandescente, masculine plural incandescents, feminine plural incandescentes)

1. incandescent

   Lorsque cette masse incandescente sortit des entrailles de la terre, elle se trouva entourée d'eau et se refroidit rapidement. (Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau, L'Archipel de Chausey, souvenirs d'un Naturaliste, Revue des Deux Mondes, tome 30, 1842)

• incandescence

• “incandescent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• “incandescent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

incandēscent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of incandēscō

Borrowed from French incandescent.

incandescent m or n (feminine singular incandescentă, masculine plural incandescenți, feminine and neuter plural incandescente)

1. incandescent