BRIGHTNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brightness mean? 

• BRIGHTNESS (noun)
  The noun BRIGHTNESS has 3 senses:

1. the location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white

2. intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty

3. the quality of being luminous; emitting or reflecting light

  Familiarity information: BRIGHTNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRIGHTNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("brightness" is a kind of...):

light; lightness (the visual effect of illumination on objects or scenes as created in pictures)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brightness"):

blaze; brilliance; glare (a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted)

dazzle (brightness enough to blind partially and temporarily)

glisten; glister; glitter; scintillation; sparkle (the quality of shining with a bright reflected light)

flash (a momentary brightness)

glint (a spatially localized brightness)

iridescence; opalescence (the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface)

effulgence; radiance; radiancy; refulgence; refulgency; shine (the quality of being bright and sending out rays of light)

brilliancy; luster; lustre; splendor; splendour (a quality that outshines the usual)

Antonym:

dullness (a lack of visual brightness)

Derivation:

bright (emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts)

bright (having strong or striking color)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

brightness; cleverness; smartness

Hypernyms ("brightness" is a kind of...):

intelligence (the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience)

Derivation:

bright (likely to turn out well in the future)

bright (characterized by quickness and ease in learning)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The quality of being luminous; emitting or reflecting light

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

brightness; brightness level; light; luminance; luminosity; luminousness

Context example:

its luminosity is measured relative to that of our sun

Hypernyms ("brightness" is a kind of...):

physical property (any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions)

Attribute:

bright (emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts)

dull (emitting or reflecting very little light)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brightness"):

illuminance; illumination (the luminous flux incident on a unit area)

incandescence (light from heat)

glow; luminescence (light from nonthermal sources)

Derivation:

bright (having lots of light either natural or artificial)

bright (not made dim or less bright)

bright (made smooth and bright by or as if by rubbing; reflecting a sheen or glow)

 Context examples 

By comparing changes in brightness Spitzer observed to the energy flow models, researchers realized an atmosphere with volatile materials could best explain the temperatures.

(Lava or Not, Exoplanet 55 Cancri e Likely to have Atmosphere, NASA)

Taken in visible light, the images highlight the changes occurring to the star both in brightness and in apparent shape.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Both Kepler and its K2 mission discover new planets by measuring the subtle dip in a star's brightness caused by a planet passing in front of its star.

(Kepler Confirms 100+ Exoplanets During Its K2 Mission, NASA)

The planet was discovered by observing periodic fluctuations in the star's apparent brightness as NGTS-1b passed in front of it.

(Astronomers report dwarf star with unexpectedly giant planet, Wikinews)

Using Kepler data, astronomers search for slight dips in brightness that hint a planet might be passing or transiting in front of a star, blocking a tiny amount of the star’s light.

(New Planet Is Largest Discovered That Orbits Two Suns, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

They confirmed the ability of the device to detect nanoscaled objects of varying brightness by viewing the same samples with conventional scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy.

(Smartphone microscope detects nanoparticles and viruses, NIH)

From its reflected brightness, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about a third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) in size.

(Asteroid to Fly By Earth on January 26, NASA)

NASA's Swift satellite has monitored Mrk 335 for years, and recently noted a dramatic change in its X-ray brightness.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

The other, GX 339-4, was less than 1 percent of its maximum expected brightness when it was observed.

(NuSTAR Probes Black Hole Jet Mystery, NASA)

The interstellar gas cannot be observed directly, as its radiation signature is overwhelmed by the accretion disk’s brightness.

(Astronomers Study How Quasars Are Powered by Accretion Disks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)