fox-firen.
Now only U.S.
The phosphorescent light emitted by decaying timber.
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the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > will-o'-the-wisp
fox-fire1483
foolish fire1563
ignis fatuus1563
fool's fire1583
Kit with the canstick or candlestick1584
going fire1596
will-o'-the-wisp1596
meteor1597
firedrake1607
wisp1618
ambulones1621
Dick-a-Tuesday1636
friar's lantern1645
gillian burnt-tail1654
Jill-burnt-tail1654
Jack-o'-lantern1658
fatuous fire1661
wildfire1663
wandering fire or light1667
Jack-a-Lent1680
fairy light1722
spunkie1727
Jill-o'-the-wisp1750
fen-fire1814
fatuus1820
marsh-light1823
feu follet1832
wisp-lighta1847
hob-lantern1847
ghost light1849
elf-fire1855
Peggy-with-her-lantern1855
fatuous light1857–8
marsh-fire1865
swamp fire1903
Min-Min1950
1483 Cath. Angl. 140 Fox Fire, glos, glossis.
1824 J. Doddridge Notes Virginia & Pennsylv. 290 If they had seen any thing like fire, between that and the fort, it must have been fox fire.
1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn I. xxviii. 311 The fox-fire—as the country people call it—glowed hideously from the cold and matted bosom of the marsh.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxiv. 193 The fox-fire of the Virginia meadows.
1872 E. Eggleston End of World xxxii. 210 The ‘fox-fire’, rotting logs glowing with a faint luminosity, startled her several times.
1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas I. 149 There is where you could see phosphorescence (fox fire) on our horses' ears.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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