opalescence

English

Etymology

From opal +‎ -escence.

Noun

opalescence (countable and uncountable, plural opalescences)

  1. the state of being opalescent
  2. (physics) the milky iridescent appearance of a dense transparent medium when it is illuminated by polychromatic visible radiation (such as sunlight) due to local fluctuations in its density and therefore in its refractive index

References
  • opalescence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
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