Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The quality of being opalescent; iridescence like that of the opal; a play of colors milky rather than brilliant; the property of exhibiting such a play of color.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.) A reflection of a milky or pearly light from the interior of a mineral, as in the moonstone; the state or quality of being opalescent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the state of being
opalescent - noun physics the
milky iridescent appearance of a densetransparent medium when it isilluminated bypolychromatic visible radiation (such assunlight ) due tolocal fluctuations in itsdensity and therefore in itsrefractive index
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface
Etymologies
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Examples
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The ultra-microscopical vesicles filled with air in all probability give rise to the opalescence which is so marked a property of the substance.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 595, May 28, 1887 Various
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Heat clothed this view with a kind of opalescence, a fairy garment, transmuting all values, so that the four square walls and tall chimneys of the pottery-works a few miles down the valley seemed to Courtier like a vision of some old fortified Italian town.
Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900
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Heat clothed this view with a kind of opalescence, a fairy garment, transmuting all values, so that the four square walls and tall chimneys of the pottery-works a few miles down the valley seemed to Courtier like a vision of some old fortified
The Patrician John Galsworthy 1900
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"opalescence" is self-suggesting as to its origin, which is the "noble" or "precious" opal; this radiates brilliant and rapidly changing iridescent reflections of blue, green, yellow and red, all blending with, and coming out of, a curious silky and milky whiteness, which is altogether characteristic.
The Chemistry, Properties and Tests of Precious Stones John Mastin
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I stroked them, their cool, smooth opalescence soothing me, as it always had for as far back as I could remember.
The Dark Side of Innocence Terri Cheney 2011
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Interestingly, both of these are considerably paler in color than typical French and Swiss absinthes but they do produce the well known "louche" or milky colored opalescence when water is added.
Boing Boing 2009
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They passed down through the scintillant, magical sheen, their moccasins rhythmically crunching the snow and their breaths wreathing mysteriously from their lips in sprayed opalescence.
CHAPTER 14 2010
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The sky lifted and shone with a blue and pink opalescence, and the long view cleared enough to feel closer to it.
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Rather than wasting the malevolent opalescence, I suggest we exhaust current inventories by bathing in it like 30s starlets.
Will Durst: Don't Got Milk Will Durst 2010
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I stroked them, their cool, smooth opalescence soothing me, as it always had for as far back as I could remember.
The Dark Side of Innocence Terri Cheney 2011
elsabet commented on the word opalescence
From the OED:
(n.) The quality of being opalescent; the display of various colours as in precious opal; milky iridescence. Also: an instance or appearance of this.
1954 S. WALLACE Coll. Poems v. 102
The wind
Of green blooms turning crisped the motley hue
To clearing opalescence.
June 29, 2007