luminiferous

adjective

lu·​mi·​nif·​er·​ous ˌlü-mə-ˈni-f(ə-)rəs 

: transmitting, producing, or yielding light

Examples of luminiferous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The name Ethernet was inspired by luminiferous ether. —Simon Hill, WIRED, 20 Apr. 2023

The name comes from the luminiferous ether that was at one point thought to be the medium through which electromagnetic waves propagate, like sound waves propagate through air. —Iljitsch Van Beijnum, Ars Technica, 29 June 2023

The Lonely Cosmos As the luminiferous era slowly unwinds, the universe itself will change character. —Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2023

It's related to the classic Michaelson-Morley experiment attempting to detect the movement of the Earth through a medium called the luminiferous aether, which physicists at the time believed permeated space. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 21 Sep. 2022

Plotting these luminiferous points on a map, the team was stunned to discover a collection of pulsing magmatic structures - the beating volcanic heart of southern Hawaii. —Robin George Andrews, Anchorage Daily News, 23 Dec. 2022

Scientists were thrilled: This meant that the different kinds of waves didn’t need their own aethers, but all traveled through the same luminiferous aether. —Meg Neal, Popular Mechanics, 19 Oct. 2018

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin lūminiferus "light-bearing," from Latin lūmin-, lūmen "light, source of light" + -i- -i- + -ferus -ferous — more at lumen

First Known Use

1801, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for luminiferous

• argentiferous
• carboniferous
• fossiliferous
• manganiferous
• metalliferous
• odoriferous
• seminiferous
• titaniferous
• auriferous
• calciferous
• coniferous
• pestiferous

Medical Definition

luminiferous

adjective

lu·​mi·​nif·​er·​ous ˌlü-mə-ˈnif-(ə-)rəs 

: transmitting, producing, or yielding light