scintillation

[ sin-tl-ey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for scintillation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act of scintillating; sparkling.

  2. a spark or flash.

  1. Astronomy. the twinkling or tremulous effect of the light of the stars.

  2. Meteorology. any small-scale twinkling or shimmering of objects that are viewed through the atmosphere, caused by an interception of the observer's line of view by inhomogeneities in the atmospheric refractive index.

  3. Physics.

    • a flash of light from the ionization of a phosphor struck by an energetic photon or particle.

    • random fluctuation of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave.

  4. (on a radar display) a slight, rapid shifting of a spot of light or the image of an object about its mean position.

Origin of scintillation

1
First recorded in 1615–25, scintillation is from the Latin word scintillātiōn- (stem of scintillātiō). See scintillate, -ion

Words Nearby scintillation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use scintillation in a sentence

  • Miriam retorted with the first scintillation of gaiety she had shown on this occasion.

    The Tragic Muse | Henry James
  • With the spell of her voice, of her eyes, of her radiant face upon him, Cameron's scintillation faded and snuffed out.

    Corporal Cameron | Ralph Connor
  • The Diana pond was skinned with ice; goddess and golden nymphs caught every scintillation of cold sunlight as we trundled past.

    Witching Hill | E. W. Hornung
  • The room was filled with a luminous rosy light, alive with scintillation of diamond brilliancy.

    A Son of Perdition | Fergus Hume
  • The presence of moisture in the atmosphere intensifies scintillation, and this is usually regarded as a prognostication of rain.

British Dictionary definitions for scintillation

scintillation

/ (ˌsɪntɪˈleɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act of scintillating

  2. a spark or flash

  1. the twinkling of stars or radio sources, caused by rapid changes in the density of the earth's atmosphere, the interplanetary medium, or the interstellar medium, producing uneven refraction of starlight

  2. physics a flash of light produced when a material scintillates

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012