| incandescent | White, glowing, or luminous, with intense heat; as, incandescent carbon or platinum; hence, clear; shining; brilliant. "Holy Scripture become resplendent; or, as one might say, incandescent throughout." (I. <physics> Taylor) Incandescent lamp or light, a kind of lamp in which the light is produced by a thin filament of conducting material, usually carbon, contained in a vacuum, and heated to incandescence by an electric current, as in the Edison lamp; called also incandescence lamp, and glowlamp. Origin: L. Incandecens, -entis, p. Pr. Of incandescere to become warm or hot; pref. In- in + candescere to become of a glittering whiteness, to become red hot, incho. Fr. Candere to be of a glittering whiteness: cf. F. Incandescent. See Candle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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