From Latin 'incandescere' (to glow white), from 'candere' (to shine) — same root as 'candle' and 'candid.'
Emitting light as a result of being heated; brilliant or passionate.
From Latin 'incandescentem' (glowing, becoming white-hot), present participle of 'incandescere' (to become hot, to glow), an inchoative verb from 'in-' (in, into, intensifier) + 'candescere' (to begin to glow, to become white), from 'candēre' (to shine, to be white, to glow), from PIE *kand- (to shine, to glow). The PIE root produced one of the most luminous word families in Indo-European: Latin 'candēla' (candle, a thing that shines), 'candidus' (white, pure, shining — hence 'candid,' originally meaning 'white-robed' and thus honest), 'candidātus' (candidate — Roman office-seekers wore white togas), and 'incendium' (a burning, via 'incendere,' to set on fire — hence 'incendiary'); Welsh 'cann' (white, bright); Sanskrit 'candrá' (चन्द्र, shining, the moon — hence 'Chandra'). The
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