incandescent light

2 definitions found

incandescent light - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  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]

  Tungsten lamp \Tung"sten lamp\
     An electric glow lamp having filaments of metallic tungsten,
     and contained in a glass bulb which is evacuated or has an
     inert gas, to avoid oxidation of the tungsten; a common form
     of light bulb. Such lamps, owing to the refractory nature of
     the metal, may be maintained at a very high temperature and
     require an expenditure of only about 1.25 watts per candle
     power, depending on the total wattage and the design of the
     bulb. By mid-20th century tungsten lamps became the most
     common type of incandescent (as contrasted with fluorescent)
     lamp; thus the phrase
  
     incandescent lamp or
  
     incandescent light typically refers to a tungsten lamp.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]