Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget
445. [Science of light] optics; photology[obs3], photometry;
1681 words | Chapter 76
dioptrics[obs3], catoptrics[obs3]. [Distribution of light] chiaroscuro,
clairobscur[obs3], clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and
white, tonality. reflection, refraction, dispersion; refractivity. V.
shine, glow, glitter; glister, glisten; twinkle, gleam; flare, flare
up; glare, beam, shimmer, glimmer, flicker, sparkle, scintillate,
coruscate, flash, blaze; be bright &c. adj.; reflect light, daze,
dazzle, bedazzle, radiate, shoot out beams; fulgurate. clear up,
brighten. lighten, enlighten; levin[obs3]; light, light up; irradiate,
shine upon; give out a light, hang out a light; cast light upon, cast
light in, throw light upon, throw light in, shed light upon, shed
luster upon; illume[obs3], illumine, illuminate; relume[obs3], strike
a light; kindle &c. (set fire to) 384. Adj. shining &c. v.; luminous,
luminiferous[obs3]; lucid, lucent, luculent[obs3], lucific[obs3],
luciferous; light, lightsome; bright, vivid, splendent[obs3],
nitid[obs3], lustrous, shiny, beamy[obs3], scintillant[obs3], radiant,
lambent; sheen, sheeny; glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient,
meridian; noonday, tide; cloudless, clear; unclouded, unobscured[obs3].
gairish[obs3], garish; resplendent, transplendent[obs3]; refulgent,
effulgent; fulgid[obs3], fulgent[obs3]; relucent[obs3], splendid,
blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant[obs3], meteoric, phosphorescent;
aglow. bright as silver; light as day, bright as day, light as
noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday.
actinic; photogenic[obs2], graphic; heliographic; heliophagous[obs3].
Phr. "a day for gods to stoop and men to soar" [Tennyson]; "dark with
excessive bright" [Milton].
#421. Darkness.—N. darkness &c. adj., absence of light; blackness
&c. (dark color) 431; obscurity, gloom, murk; dusk &c. (dimness) 422.
Cimmerian darkness[obs3], Stygian darkness, Egyptian darkness; night;
midnight; dead of night, witching hour of night, witching time of
night; blind man's holiday; darkness visible, darkness that can be
felt; palpable obscure; Erebus[Lat]; "the jaws of darkness" [Midsummer
Night's Dream]; "sablevested night" [Milton]. shade, shadow, umbra,
penumbra; sciagraphy[obs3]. obscuration; occultation, adumbration,
obumbration[obs3]; obtenebration[obs3], offuscation|, caligation|;
extinction; eclipse, total eclipse; gathering of the clouds. shading;
distribution of shade; chiaroscuro &c. (light) 420.
noctivagation[obs3]. [perfectly black objects] black body;
hohlraum[Phys]; black hole; dark star; dark matter, cold dark matter.
V. be dark &c. adj. darken, obscure, shade; dim; tone down, lower;
overcast, overshadow; eclipse; obfuscate, offuscate|; obumbrate[obs3],
adumbrate; cast into the shade becloud, bedim[obs3], bedarken[obs3];
cast a shade, throw a shade, spread a shade, cast a shadow, cast a
gloom, throw a shadow, spread a shadow, cast gloom, throw gloom, spread
gloom. extinguish; put out, blow out, snuff out; doubt. turn out the
lights, douse the lights, dim the lights, turn off the lights, switch
off the lights. Adj. dark, darksome[obs3], darkling; obscure,
tenebrious[obs3], sombrous[obs3], pitch dark, pitchy, pitch black;
caliginous[obs3]; black &c. (in color) 431. sunless, lightless &c. (see
sun[obs3], light, &c. 423); somber, dusky; unilluminated &c. (see
illuminate &c. 420)[obs3]; nocturnal; dingy, lurid, gloomy; murky,
murksome[obs3]; shady, umbrageous; overcast &c. (dim) 422; cloudy &c.
(opaque) 426; darkened; &c. v. dark as pitch, dark as a pit, dark as
Erebus[Lat]. benighted; noctivagant!|, noctivagous!|. Adv. in the dark,
in the shade. Phr. "brief as the lightning in the collied night" [M. N.
D.]; "eldest Night and Chaos, ancestors of Nature" [P. L.]; "the
blackness of the noonday night" [Longfellow]; "the prayer of Ajax was
for light" [Longfellow].
#422. Dimness.—N. dimness &c. adj.; darkness &c. 421; paleness &c.
#
(light color) 429.
half light, demi-jour; partial shadow, partial eclipse; shadow of
a
shade; glimmer, gliming[obs3]; nebulosity; cloud &c. 353; eclipse.
aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut
time|;
break of day, daybreak, dawn.
moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade[obs3], moonshine; starlight, owl's
light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight; farthing candle.
V. be dim, grow dim &c. adj.; flicker, twinkle, glimmer; loom,
lower;
fade; pale, pale its ineffectual fire [Hamlet].
render dim &c. adj.; dim, bedim[obs3], obscure; darken, tone down.
Adj. dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams,
dark
421.
faint, shadowed forth; glassy; cloudy; misty &c. (opaque) 426;
blear;
muggy|, fuliginous[obs3]; nebulous, nebular; obnubilated[obs3],
overcast,
crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty; looming &c. v.
pale &c. (colorless) 429; confused &c. (invisible) 447.
#423. [Source of light, self-luminous body.] Luminary.—N. luminary;
light &c. 420; flame &c. (fire) 382. spark, scintilla; phosphorescence,
fluorescence. sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo[obs3], Aurora; star,
orb; meteor, falling star, shooting star; blazing star, dog star,
Sirius; canicula, Aldebaran[obs3]; constellation, galaxy; zodiacal
light; anthelion[obs3]; day star, morning star; Lucifer; mock sun,
parhelion; phosphor, phosphorus; sun dog|!; Venus. aurora, polar
lights; northern lights, aurora borealis; southern lights, aurora
australis. lightning; chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning,
summer lightning; ball lightning, kugelblitz [German]; [chemical
substances giving off light without burning] phosphorus, yellow
phosphorus; scintillator, phosphor; firefly luminescence. ignis
fatuus[Lat]; Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern; will-o'-the-wisp,
firedrake[obs3], Fata Morgana[Lat]; Saint Elmo's fire. [luminous
insects] glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug. [luminous fish]
anglerfish. [Artificial light] gas; gas light, lime light, lantern,
lanthorn[obs3]; dark lantern, bull's-eye; candle, bougie[Fr], taper,
rushlight; oil &c. (grease) 356; wick, burner; Argand[obs3], moderator,
duplex; torch, flambeau, link, brand; gaselier[obs3], chandelier,
electrolier[obs3], candelabrum, candelabra, girandole[obs3], sconce,
luster, candlestick. [non-combustion based light sources] lamp, light;
incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb; flashlight, torch[Brit];
arc light; laser; maser [microwave radiation]; neon bulb, neon sign;
fluorescent lamp. [parts of a light bulb] filament; socket; contacts;
filler gas. firework, fizgig[obs3]; pyrotechnics; rocket, lighthouse
&c. (signal) 550. V. illuminate &c. (light) 420. Adj. self-luminous,
glowing; phosphoric|!, phosphorescent, fluorescent; incandescent;
luminescent, chemiluminescent; radiant &c. (light) 420. Phr. "blossomed
the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels" [Longfellow]; "the
sentinel stars set their watch in the sky" [Campbell]; "the planets in
their station list'ning stood" [Paradise Lost]; "the Scriptures of the
skies" [Bailey]; "that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from
night" [Twelfth Night].
#424. Shade.—N. shade; awning &c. (cover) 223; parasol, sunshade,
#
umbrella; chick; portiere; screen, curtain, shutter, blind, gauze,
veil,
chador, mantle, mask; cloud, mist, gathering. of clouds.
umbrage, glade; shadow &c. 421.
beach umbrella, folding umbrella.
V. draw a curtain; put up a shutter, close a shutter; veil &c. v.;
cast a shadow &c. (darken) 421.
Adj. shady, umbrageous.
Phr. "welcome ye shades! ye bowery thickets hail" [Thomson].
#425. Transparency.—N. transparence, transparency; clarity;
translucence, translucency; diaphaneity[obs3]; lucidity,
pellucidity[obs3], limpidity; fluorescence; transillumination,
translumination[obs3]. transparent medium, glass, crystal, lymph,
vitrite[obs3], water. V. be transparent &c. adj.; transmit light. Adj.
transparent, pellucid, lucid, diaphanous, translucent, tralucent|,
relucent[obs3]; limpid, clear, serene, crystalline, clear as crystal,
vitreous, transpicuous[obs3], glassy, hyaline; hyaloid[Med],
vitreform[obs3].
#426. Opacity.—N. opacity; opaqueness &c. adj.
#
film; cloud &c. 353.
V. be opaque &c. adj.; obstruct the passage of light; obfuscate,
offuscate|.
Adj. opaque, impervious to light; adiaphanous[obs3]; dim &c. 422;
turbid, thick, muddy, opacous|, obfuscated, fuliginous[obs3], cloud,
hazy,
misty, foggy, vaporous, nubiferous[obs3], muggy|| (turbidity) 426a.
smoky, fumid[obs3], murky, dirty.
#426a. Turbidity—N. turbidity, cloudiness, fog, haze, muddiness,
#
haziness, obscurity.
nephelometer[instrument to measure turbidity].
Adj. turbid, thick, muddy, obfuscated, fuliginous[obs3], hazy,
misty,
foggy, vaporous, nubiferous[obs3]; cloudy (cloud) 353.
smoky, fumid[obs3], murky, dirty.
#427. Semitransparency.—N. semitransparency, translucency,
#
semiopacity; opalescence, milkiness, pearliness[obs3]; gauze, muslin;
film;
mica, mother-of-pearl, nacre; mist &c. (cloud) 353.
[opalescent jewel] opal.
turbidity &c. 426a.
Adj. semitransparent, translucent, semipellucid[obs3],
semidiaphanous[obs3], semiopacous[obs3], semiopaque; opalescent,
opaline[obs3]; pearly, milky; frosted, nacreous.
V. opalesce.
(ii) SPECIFIC LIGHT
#428. Color.—N. color, hue, tint, tinge, dye, complexion, shade,
tincture, cast, livery, coloration, glow, flush; tone, key. pure color,
positive color, primary color, primitive complementary color; three
primaries; spectrum, chromatic dispersion; broken color, secondary
color, tertiary color. local color, coloring, keeping, tone, value,
aerial perspective. [Science of color] chromatics, spectrum analysis,
spectroscopy; chromatism[obs3], chromatography||, chromatology[obs3].
[instruments to measure color] prism, spectroscope, spectrograph,
spectrometer, colorimeter (optical instruments) 445. pigment, coloring
matter, paint, dye, wash, distemper, stain; medium; mordant; oil paint
&c. painting 556. V. color, dye, tinge, stain, tint, tinct[obs3],
paint, wash, ingrain, grain, illuminate, emblazon, bedizen, imbue;
paint &c. (fine art) 556. Adj. colored &c. v.; colorific[obs3],
tingent[obs3], tinctorial[obs3]; chromatic, prismatic; full-colored,
high-colored, deep-colored; doubly- dyed; polychromatic;
chromatogenous[obs3]; tingible[obs3]. bright, vivid, intense, deep;
fresh, unfaded[obs3]; rich, gorgeous; gay. gaudy, florid; gay, garish;
rainbow-colored, multihued; showy, flaunting, flashy; raw, crude;
glaring, flaring; discordant, inharmonious. mellow, pastel, harmonious,
pearly, sweet, delicate, tender, refined.
#429. [Absence of color.] Achromatism.—N. achromatism[obs3];
decoloration[obs3], discoloration; pallor, pallidness, pallidity[obs3];
paleness &c. adj.; etiolation; neutral tint, monochrome, black and
white. V. lose color &c. 428; fade, fly, go; become colorless &c.
adj.; turn pale, pale. deprive of color, decolorize, bleach, tarnish,
achromatize, blanch, etiolate, wash out, tone down. Adj. uncolored &c.
(see color &c. 428); colorless, achromatic, aplanatic[obs3]; etiolate,
etiolated; hueless[obs3], pale, pallid; palefaced[obs3], tallow-faced;
faint, dull, cold, muddy, leaden, dun, wan, sallow, dead, dingy, ashy,
ashen, ghastly, cadaverous, glassy, lackluster; discolored &c. v.
light-colored, fair, blond; white &c. 430. pale as death, pale as
ashes, pale as a witch, pale as a ghost, pale as a corpse, white as a
corpse.
#430. Whiteness.—N. whiteness &c. adj.; argent.
albification[obs3], etiolation; lactescence[obs3]. snow, paper, chalk,
milk, lily, ivory, alabaster; albata[obs3], eburin[obs3], German
silver, white metal, barium sulphate[Chem], titanium oxide, blanc
fixe[Fr], ceruse[obs3], pearl white; white lead, carbonate of lead. V.
be white &c. adj. render white &c. adj.; whiten, bleach, blanch,
etiolate, whitewash, silver. Adj. white; milk-white, snow-white; snowy;
niveous[obs3], candid, chalky; hoar, hoary; silvery; argent, argentine;
canescent[obs3], cretaceous, lactescent[obs3]. whitish, creamy, pearly,
fair, blond; blanched &c. v.; high in tone, light. white as a sheet,
white as driven snow, white as a lily, white as silver; like ivory &c.
n.
#431. Blackness.—N. blackness &c. adj.; darkness &c. (want of
light). 421; swartliness[obs3], lividity, dark color, tone, color;
chiaroscuro &c. 420. nigrification[obs3], infuscation[obs3]. jet, ink,
ebony, coal pitch, soot, charcoal, sloe, smut, raven, crow. [derogatory
terms for black-skinned people] Negro, blackamoor, man of color,
nigger, darkie, Ethiop, black; buck, nigger [U. S.]; coon [U. S.],
sambo. [Pigments] lampblack, ivory black, blueblack; writing ink,
printing ink, printer's ink, Indian ink, India ink. V. be black &c.
adj.; render -black &c. adj. blacken, infuscate[obs3], denigrate; blot,
blotch; smutch[obs3]; smirch; darken &c. 421. black, sable, swarthy,
somber, dark, inky, ebony, ebon, atramentous[obs3], jetty; coal-black,
jet-black; fuliginous[obs3], pitchy, sooty, swart, dusky, dingy, murky,
Ethiopic; low-toned, low in tone; of the deepest dye. black as jet &c.
n., black as my hat, black as a shoe, black as a tinker's pot, black as
November, black as thunder, black as midnight; nocturnal &c. (dark)
421; nigrescent[obs3]; gray &c. 432; obscure &c. 421. Adv. in mourning.
#432. Gray.—N. gray &c. adj.; neutral tint, silver, pepper and
salt, chiaroscuro, grisaille[Fr]. [Pigments] Payne's gray; black &c.
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