icy noctiluca

English

Etymology

Named for white phosphorus, bright oxidizing at a relatively low temperature.

Noun

icy noctiluca (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) white phosphorus.
    1681: New Experiments and Observations made upon the Icy Noctiluca — title of booklet by Robert Boyle (quoted in John Emsley, The Shocking History of Phosphorus, 2000, →ISBN
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