Incandescents

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Characterizing light-emitting sources that generate a warm glow typically through heating a filament
2. Pertaining to bulbs or lamps that produce illumination by heating a thin wire to high temperatures
3. Describing electrical devices that emit visible light as a result of high resistance in a heated conductor

Etymology: "Incandescents" is the plural of "incandescent," an adjective (here used as a noun) that came into English from French, which took it from Latin "incandescens," the present participle of "incandescere," meaning "to glow" or "to become heated." The Latin verb is built from the intensifying prefix "in-" and "candescere," "to become white," which itself grows from "candere," "to shine," and ultimately from "candidus," "white" or "bright." So the word's core image is of something heated until it turns white-hot. The electrical sense the plural names is a later application of that old idea. A filament heated until it radiates visible light is exactly the glowing-white state the Latin verb described, and the word was pressed into service to name lamps built on that principle. Its plural, in this usage, refers to the lamps themselves rather than to the glowing quality they share.