'Phosphorescent' means 'light-bearing' — named after the element phosphorus and its eerie glow.
Emitting light without combustion or perceptible heat; exhibiting a sustained glow after exposure to radiation or light.
From Greek 'phōsphoros' (light-bearing, the morning star), composed of 'phōs' (light, genitive 'phōtos') from PIE *bʰeh₂- (to shine, gleam) + 'pherein' (to carry, bear) from PIE *bʰer- (to carry). Latin transmitted 'phosphorus' directly from Greek. The noun 'phosphorescence' arose in the 18th century to describe the cold glow emitted by certain substances, particularly the element phosphorus isolated by Hennig Brand in 1669 from urine. The '-escent' suffix, from Latin
The element phosphorus was discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Hennig Brand, who was boiling large quantities of urine in search of the philosopher's stone. The residue glowed a pale green in the dark — the first element discovered since antiquity, found by accident in the most unglamorous of substances. Brand named it after the Greek word for the morning star
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