Re: A very stupid question on the Fluorescence

Hello etymologists,

“Fluorescence” is a word formed by analogy with another word, rather than by
direct translation. The first recorded use was by Stokes, of Shift fame, in
1852, who invented “fluorescent” to mean “beginning to assume the state of
fluorspar”, referring to this mineral’s ability to emit blue light when
illuminated under what we now call UV (he used strong sunshine flooding into his
Cambridge college room). The analogous word that made Stokes think of it was
“opalescent”.

The "fluo" part does indeed come from Latin fluere, which means "to FLOW" - what
a nice coincidence for this mailing list :-) - but only because fluorspar flows
well when heated in a crucible and causes mineral ores also to flow when you
want to smelt them, not because light flows from it.  

Yes, the -escence part comes from ‘beginning to assume a certain state’, as the
Oxford English Dictionary puts it.

Do you want to see the whole story, which involves not only George Stokes but
also Georgius Agricola 1546, and Herbert Hoover 1912 (the mining engineer who
became US President and who had excellent Latin)?  Please visit my page at
http://tinyurl.com/wjhqz. This reproduces in facsimile the key footnote where
Stokes first mentions "fluorescence" and it provides the 1852 citation.

- Simon Hunt

In message <4546655B020000B70001296D@GALILEO.SCH.NHS.UK> "Mark Simmerson"
<Mark.Simmerson@sch.nhs.uk> writes:
> Interesting
> Being a fan of words I wonder if the piece you quote is not quite right.
> If one combines the prefix
> fluo : to flow, pour, stream. 
> with 
> escence - to become
> Then perhaps
> Fluorescence - to begin stream/pour light.
> Just a thought
> Any other etymologists out there or are flow-ers more likely to be insects?
> Mark
> 
> >>> Leonid Volkov <leonid.volkov@chus.qc.ca> 10/27/06 10:22 pm >>>
> Dear All,
> 
> I would like to add in my lecture just a little explanation of the term 
> «Fluorescence».
> But I can’t understand the etymology.
> Dr. G. Stokes described the phenomenon.
> And he invented the term.
> - escence - means "to become" in Latin.
> - Fluor  - comes from the Fluorite (fluorspar), the mineral used by Dr. 
> Stokes in his work.
> But what means the term?
> Become like Fluorite?
> Certainly Sir George Gabriel Stokes had a perfect knowledge of Latin, 
> but not me.
> Maybe someone knows the response or can find it effortlessly in the 
> original publication (but not in the Google.com) of 1852?
> 
> Thank at advance.
> 
> L. VOLKOV , Ph. D; M. D.
> Asst. en Cytometrie -Microscopie
> 
> loc. 4867
> Service commun de cytométrie et de microscopie
> Centre de recherches cliniques
> 3001, 12 av.Nord SHERBROOKE
> Quebec, CANADA
>		   J1H 5N4
>	Tel: (819) 346-1110 ext 1-4867
>	Fax: (819) 564-5215
> Leonid Volkov <leonid.volkov@chus.qc.ca>
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Dr Simon V. Hunt, Lecturer in Immunology, University of Oxford
Mail - Dunn School of Pathology, South Parks Road, OXFORD OX1 3RE, U.K.
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