luciferin
noun
Did you know?
Luciferin got its name from the Latin word lucifer (meaning "light-bearing"), which is also a source of the word that is sometimes used as a name of the devil. We won't go into how Lucifer came to be called by that name-suffice it to say he wasn't always associated with darkness-but we will look a bit more closely at the Latin word lucifer. It comes from Latin luc-, meaning "light," plus -fer, meaning "bearing" or "producing." Additional relatives include the nontechnical adjective luciferous, meaning "bringing light or insight," and luciferase, the enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin.
Examples of luciferin in a Sentence
Sam Jones, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
The process requires not only the synthesis of specialized chemicals like luciferin and luciferase but also the energy to fuel the light-producing reaction.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
Bioluminescence is produced naturally when oxygen reacts with a substance called luciferin, with the help of an enzyme called luciferase, to produce energy in the form of light.
—WIRED, 19 Sep. 2023
Oxygen combines with chemicals called luciferin and luciferase to generate light with almost no heat.
—USA Today, 2 June 2023
For example, in order to do their glowing thing, fireflies use firefly luciferin or (4S)-2-(6-hydroxy-1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxylic acid, which looks like a ridiculously strong password.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2021
Dumping firefly luciferin on plants is extremely expensive and can be toxic.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 30 Apr. 2020
The light is produced inside the tiny dinoflagellates body thanks to two chemicals: the enzyme luciferase and the compound luciferin.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 27 Apr. 2020
Bioluminescence comes in a range of greens, reds and blues, and it’s caused by a protein called luciferin, often found in marine animals, mushrooms, insects, algae and specific types of bacteria.
—Jill Langlois, Smithsonian, 5 Dec. 2019
Dictionary Entries Near luciferin
Cite this Entry
“Luciferin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/luciferin. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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luciferin
noun
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