Lights reflected off dust-covered walls creating a ghostly luminescence.
luminescence in British English
(ˌluːmɪˈnɛsəns)
noun
physics
a.
the emission of light at low temperatures by any process other than incandescence, such as phosphorescence or chemiluminescence
b.
the light emitted by such a process
Derived forms
luminescent (ˌlumiˈnescent)
adjective
Word origin
C19: from Latin lūmen light
luminescence in American English
(ˌluməˈnɛsəns)
noun
any giving off of light caused by the absorption of radiant or corpuscular energy and not by incandescence; any cold light; specif., fluorescence or phosphorescence occurring in various chemical, biological, electrical, etc. processes at relatively low temperatures
Word origin
< L lumen, light1 + -escence
Examples of 'luminescence' in a sentence
luminescence
Three beams of its silvery luminescence came in through holes in the roof.
Clive Barker COLDHEART CANYON (2001)
There were no windows, but there were, he saw, hairline cracks in the walls from which the luminescence was seeping.
Clive Barker SACRAMENT (2001)
The gloomy sky had given way to an exquisite luminescence, the source of which was not a heavenly body but objects themselves.
Clive Barker EVERVILLE (2001)
The wall was alight, or rather something behind it burned with a cold luminescence that made the solid brick seem insubstantial stuff.