Natural Phenomenon or Process
fluorescence Audio
fluo·res·cence [ flaw-res-uhns, floh- ]
Subclass of:
luminescence
Definitions related to fluorescence:
  • Absorption of a photon of light followed, after a delay, by emission of a photon of longer wavelength.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • Fluorescence is a luminescence (i.e., optical phenomenon) in cold bodies, in which a molecule absorbs a high-energy photon, and re-emits it as a lower-energy (longer-wavelength) photon. The energy difference between the absorbed and emitted photons ends up as molecular vibrations (heat).
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • The property of emitting radiation while being irradiated. The radiation emitted is usually of longer wavelength than that incident or absorbed, e.g., a substance can be irradiated with invisible radiation and emit visible light. X-ray fluorescence is used in diagnosis.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
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