ultravioletadj.n.
/ˌʌltrəˈvʌɪələt/, U.S. /ˌəltrəˈvaɪ(ə)lət/ A. adj.
1. Lying beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum: the epithet of electromagnetic radiation (and of the part of the spectrum containing it) which has a wavelength shorter than that of violet light (about 420 nm.) and (in modern use) no shorter than that of the longest X-rays (of the order of 4 to 40 nm.). Frequently in ultraviolet ray, ultraviolet radiation.
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ultraviolet1840
Wood1925
U.V.1928
1840 J. F. W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 130 20 As orange, indigo, and violet, vegetable tints, are used for those of the prismatic hues, I may be allowed to express by the epithet lavender the rays which produce the tint in question, rather for the purpose of abbreviating the uncouth appellation of ultra-violet..than for that of laying any undue stress on the observed fact.
1870 J. Tyndall Notes 9 Lect. on Light 36 As regards the ultra-violet rays; when they are permitted to fall upon certain substances..they render the substance luminous.
1875 tr. H. W. Vogel Chem. Light & Photogr. vii. 60 We name the invisible tones of colour above violet ultra-violet, and those beyond red ultra-red.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 375/2 The remarkable series of ultra-violet lines..in the spectra of some stars.
1904 Sci. Siftings 12 Mar. 320/2 These ultra-violet rays..are most effective in the treatment of such diseases as tuberculosis of the skin, i.e., lupus.
1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song i. xi. 84 They talk about these ultra-violet rays. Plain sunshine used to be good enough.
1935 Discovery Aug. 225/1 Those physical agents which have been found of service in the treatment of various diseases—such agents as ultra-violet and infra-red radiation.
1947 Sci. News 4 43 Ultra-violet light is a strong bleacher.
1955 Times 2 July 7/7 Ultra-violet radiation is useful, both to the naked eye and by photography, to determine whether varnish has perished.
1979 T. B. Akrill et al. Physics xviii. 248/1 The mercury vapour spectrum also includes a considerable amount of ultra-violet radiation.
2.
a. Involving, producing, or pertaining to ultraviolet radiation or its use; ultraviolet catastrophe, an indefinite increase that the Rayleigh–Jeans law predicts should occur in the radiation emitted by a black body at successively shorter wavelengths (where the law in fact becomes invalid).
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ultraviolet1934
1922 A. E. H. Tutton Crystallogr. II. li. 1139 This ultra-violet lamp is visible to the eye at close quarters owing to fluorescence of the retina of the eye itself; and the field of vision appears filled with a haze known as ‘lavender fog’, owing to fluorescence of the crystalline lens of the eye.]
1934 Discovery May 138/1 In the detection of forgery, the deciphering of illegible or faded documents, over-writing and the like..ultra-violet photography is the most useful process to employ.
1935 J. Dougall tr. M. Born Atomic Physics vii. 189 We have here what is called the ‘ultra-violet catastrophe’.
1958 New Biol. 27 12 The conclusion reached on a chemical basis regarding the presence of lignin has been confirmed using the ultra-violet microscope for spectro~micrographic purposes.
1966 M. Jammer Conceptual Devel. Quantum Mech. i. 17 A situation which was later, following Ehrenfest, referred to as the ‘ultraviolet catastrophe’. [Note] P. Ehrenfest,..Annalen der Physik 36, 91–118 (1911). The fourth chapter of this paper is entitled ‘Die Vermeidung der Rayleigh-Jeans-Katastrophe im Ultravioletten’, where the term ‘ultraviolet catastrophe’ appeared for the first time.
1974 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 17/6 An ultra-violet photograph taken from an Aerobee rocket..has revealed the development of a huge ball of hydrogen.
1976 Progress in Sci. Culture (E. Majorana Centre) Spring 20 The paradox is the ultraviolet catastrophe of the theory of black-body radiation, which was predicted on the basis of classical statistical mechanics and Maxwell's theory of radiation.
b. Sensitive to ultraviolet radiation.
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ultraviolet1940
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 875/2 Ultra-violet cell.
1969 Rev. Sci. Instruments XL. 311 (heading) A secondary standard vacuum ultraviolet detector.
1975 J. Taylor Superminds iii. 52 At this point the primitive ultra-violet detector was used.
B. n. elliptical.
The ultraviolet part of the spectrum; near ultraviolet, far ultraviolet, the part close to, or far from, the visible spectrum.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > ultraviolet light
violet ray1803
ultraviolet1887
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 375/2 A number of lines in the ultra-violet.
1931 Discovery Mar. 86/2 The possibility is discussed of extending the study of the spectrum of stars into the regions of the ultra-violet.
1954 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 76 3847/1 Samples of barium and calcium titanates were sealed in quartz tubes containing phosphorus pentoxide for 72 hours and then exposed to ultraviolet.
1962 L. S. Sasieni Princ. & Pract. Optical Dispensing xiii. 326 In snow glare protection is required against the ultra-violet.
1974 Nature 4 Jan. 44/1 At the molecular level, the effects of far-ultraviolet (<300nm) and near-ultraviolet (300 to 420nm) on biological systems are quite different.
Compounds
ultra-violet-ray v. transitive to submit to ultra-violet-ray treatment.
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1929 C. C. Martindale Risen Sun 175 Our talk lasted chiefly while I was being ultra-violet-rayed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1840