self-luminousadj.
/ˌsɛlfˈl(j)uːmᵻnəs/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfˈlumənəs/ Chiefly Astronomy.
That naturally produces and emits light, as distinguished from reflecting light.
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the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [adjective] > phosphorescent
night-shining1598
noctilucous1680
noctilucal1682
noctilucent1691
phosphorous1717
self-luminous1751
phosphorescent1767
phosphoric1771
phosphoreous1776
phosphor1790
phosphorescing1794
phosphoretic1794
phosphorent1819
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > intensity of light, luminosity > [adjective] > luminescent
self-luminous1751
luminescent1889
photoluminescent1909
bioluminescent1921
1751 Real Presence Demonstrated 30 If God had by a revealed Treatise on heavenly Bodies, profest for the Information and good of Mortals to teach them Astronomy, and therein inculcated the Moon to be flat, and Self-luminous; and after it had been demonstrated, to be Spherical and Opake, the Contradiction would be indefensible.
1791 E. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 81 85 If..this matter is self-luminous, it seems more fit to produce a star by its condensation than to depend on the star for its existence.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics Introd. 1 Self-luminous bodies, such as the stars, flames of all kinds, and bodies which shine by being heated or rubbed.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. x. 253 The tail of the comet is not self-luminous.
1907 Astrophysical Jrnl. 26 115 The meteor trains are self-luminous gas clouds combined with very minute meteoric dust particles.
1966 Racine (Wisconsin) Jrnl.-Times Sunday Bull. 31 July c6/6 In the Apollo program, nuclear self-luminous materials are being designed not only to help man on his journey to the moon but also to help him explore the dark side of this satellite.
2010 Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 122 166/1 The very closest stars to the Sun also offer the prospect of finding self-luminous planets.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1751