Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The scattering of electromagnetic radiation by particles with dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation, resulting in angular separation of colors and responsible for the reddish color of sunset and the blue of the sky.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun The
elastic scattering oflight or otherelectromagnetic radiation byparticles much smaller than thewavelength of the light.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[After John William Strutt, Third Baron Rayleigh.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Named after the British physicist Lord Rayleigh (1842–1919).
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