Definition of Opalescent

1. Adjective. Having a play of lustrous rainbow colors. "A milky opalescent (or opaline) luster"

Exact synonyms: Iridescent, Nacreous, Opaline, Pearlescent
Similar to: Bright
Derivative terms: Iridesce, Iridescence, Opalesce, Opalesce, Opalescence

Definition of Opalescent

1. a. Reflecting a milky or pearly light from the interior; having an opaline play of colors.

Definition of Opalescent

1. Adjective. Exhibiting a milky iridescence like that of an opal. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Opalescent

1. [adj]

Medical Definition of Opalescent

1. Showing a milky iridescence, like an opal. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Opalescent

opacous
opacular
opah
opahs
opake
opal
opal codon
opal mutation
opal suppressor
opaled
opalesce
opalesced
opalescence
opalescences
opalescent (current term)
opalescent dentin
opalescently
opalesces
opalescing
opaline
opaline patch
opalines
opalise
opalised
opalises
opalising
opalize
opalized
opalizes

Literary usage of Opalescent

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Science Abstracts by Institution of Electrical Engineers (1900)
"With an opalescent inner globe the globe itself becomes luminous by diffusion, and this effect changes with the position of the arc within the globe. ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and edited by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"... some of it was opalescent; much of it was more like agate or onyx than jewels. Other forms of American enterprise were : the making of glass in lumps, ..."

3. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"This was wilfully streaked, mottled and quasi- accidentally varied; some of it was opalescent; .... opalescent ..."

4. Journal of Anatomy and Physiology by Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1890)
"(a) Serum albumen, containing 100 per cent, magnesium sulphate, became opalescent at 84° C., and coagulated at 89° C., a slight opalescence appearing at 40° ..."

5. The British Quarterly Review by Robert Vaughan, Henry Allon (1869)
"... (the latter bearing the regal Asiatic symbol of the umbrella), pottery, glass (adorned by the hand of time with the most lovely opalescent colours), ..."

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