Definition of "luminescence" []

• The emission of light that does not derive energy from the temperature of the emitting body, as in phosphorescence, fluorescence, and bioluminescence. Luminescence is caused by chemical, biochemical, or crystallographic changes, the motions of subatomic particles, or radiation-induced excitation of an atomic system. (noun)
• The light so emitted. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The color, light refraction and luminescence is also very important."
• "I already knew that the aequorin luminescence was caused by an intramolecular reaction that takes place in the protein molecule, which would be difficult to study."
• "By 1978, we had achieved a general understanding of the aequorin luminescence reaction."