Incandescent light bulb
(gcide) | Incandescent \In`can*des"cent\, a. [L. incandecens, -entis, p.
pr. of incandescere to become warm or hot; pref. in- in +
candescere to become of a glittering whiteness, to become red
hot, incho. fr. candere to be of a glittering whiteness: cf.
F. incandescent. See Candle.]
White, glowing, or luminous, with intense heat; as,
incandescent carbon or platinum; hence, clear; shining;
brilliant.
[1913 Webster]
Holy Scripture become resplendent; or, as one might
say, incandescent throughout. --I. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
Incandescent lamp, Incandescent light, {Incandescent
light bulb} (Elec.), a kind of lamp in which the light is
produced by a thin filament of conducting material, now
usually tungsten, but originally carbon, contained in a
vacuum or an atmosphere of inert gas within a glass bulb,
and heated to incandescence by an electric current. It was
inventerd by Thomas Edison, and was once called the
Edison lamp; -- called also incandescence lamp, and
glowlamp. This is one of the two most common sources of
electric light, the other being the fluorescent light,
fluorescent lamp or fluorescent bulb.
[1913 Webster +PJC] |