scintillation
Meaning
a flash or sparkle of light.
(physics) a small flash of visible or invisible light produced by a phosphor when struck by an energetic particle or photon.
(astronomy) the rapid variation in brightness or position of a celestial object caused by turbulence in the earth's atmosphere.
Structure
Usage
the scintillation of the city lights from the airplane window was breathtaking.
the detector counts each scintillation caused by a radioactive particle.
astronomical scintillation, or 'twinkling', is more pronounced for stars near the horizon.
Etymology
the word 'scintillation' originates from the latin noun scintilla, meaning a spark or glimmer. this term is thought to be derived from a proto-indo-european root meaning 'to shine' or 'to flash', which also gave rise to related words like 'shine'. the latin verb scintillare, meaning 'to sparkle', was formed from this noun. entering english in the early 17th century via french, the word 'scintillation' literally means 'the process of sparking', which evolved to describe any rapid, brilliant flashing of light, from literal sparks to the twinkling of stars and the emission of light by certain materials in physics.
Analysis
scintill (from latin scintilla, meaning 'spark') + ation (a latin-derived noun-forming suffix indicating an action or process).