opalescence
/,oupə'lesns/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface: Opalescence is the quality of reflecting light with a soft, milky iridescence, often showing shifting colors like those seen in an opal gemstone.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The opalescence of the antique glass vase made it shimmer in the sunlight.
- Scientists study the opalescence of certain liquids to understand their structural properties.
Advanced Usage
- Technical/Scientific Context: In physics and chemistry, "opalescence" can describe the cloudy iridescence exhibited by some colloidal solutions or when a substance is near its critical point.
- The liquid exhibited critical opalescence as it was heated, scattering light dramatically.
Variants and Related Words
- Opalescent (adj): Having the quality of opalescence; exhibiting a milky iridescence.
- The lamp was made from opalescent glass.
- Opalesce (verb, rare): To exhibit or give off opalescence.
- The solution began to opalesce under the specific lighting conditions.
Synonyms
- Iridescence: A display of lustrous, changing colors.
- Pearlescence: Having a luster like that of a pearl.
- Milky luminescence: A soft, white light emission.
Antonyms
- Dullness: Lacking brightness or shine.
- Opacity: The quality of not allowing light to pass through; lacking translucency.
Related Phrases and Terms
- Play of colors: A phrase often associated with opalescence, describing the shifting colors seen on the surface.
- Critical opalescence: A specific scientific phenomenon where a fluid becomes milky and highly light-scattering near its critical point.
Noun
- the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface