lu·mi·nos·i·ty

[loo-muh-nos-i-tee]
noun, plural lu·mi·nos·i·ties.
1.
luminance ( def 2 ).
2.
the quality of being intellectually brilliant, enlightened, inspired, etc.: The luminosity of his poetry is unequaled.
3.
something luminous.
4.
Astronomy. the brightness of a star in comparison with that of the sun: the luminosity of Sirius expressed as 23 indicates an intrinsic brightness 23 times as great as that of the sun.
5.
Also called luminosity factor. Optics. the brightness of a light source of a certain wavelength as it appears to the eye, measured as the ratio of luminous flux to radiant flux at that wavelength.

Origin:
1625–35; < Latin lūminōs(us) luminous + -ity

non·lu·mi·nos·i·ty, noun
self-lu·mi·nos·i·ty, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To luminosity
00:10
Luminosity is always a great word to know.
So is meteoroid. Does it mean:
the obscuring of the light of the moon by the intervention of the earth between it and the sun, a lunar eclipse, or the obscuring of the light of the sun by the intervention of the moon between it and a point on the earth, a solar eclipse
any of the small bodies, often remnants of comets, traveling through space: when such a body enters the earth's atmosphere it is heated to luminosity and becomes a meteor
Collins
World English Dictionary
luminosity (ˌluːmɪˈnɒsɪtɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ties
1.  the condition of being luminous
2.  something that is luminous
3.  astronomy a measure of the radiant power emitted by a star
4.  physics See also colour Former name: brightness the attribute of an object or colour enabling the extent to which an object emits light to be observed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

luminosity
1630s, "quality of being luminous," from luminous. In astronomy sense of "intrinsic brightness of a heavenly body" (as distinguished from apparent magnitude, which diminishes with distance), attested from 1906.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
These studies suggest the possibility that luminosity is the source of
  gravitational attraction.
They convey the same loneliness, timelessness and quietude of his more famous
  canvases, and are rendered with the same luminosity.
And that should be enough, since luminosity and temperature are related.
Another would be an atmospheric haze produced by the companion star, obscuring
  the luminosity.
Image for luminosity
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