luciferin

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 19, 2012 is: luciferin • \loo-SIF-uh-rin\  • noun : any of various organic substances in luminescent organisms (as fireflies) that upon oxidation produce a virtually heatless light Examples: "Luciferins vary in chemical structure; the luciferin of luminescent bacteria, for example, is completely different from that of fireflies." - From an article at Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2012 "Light is produced by fireflies through a chemical reaction between luciferin and its enzyme counterpart, luciferase." - From an article at photonics.com, June 20, 2012 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. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.