"speed of light" meaning in English

See speed of light in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: speeds of light [plural], as [abbreviation, common-gender]
Head templates: {{en-noun|speeds of light}} speed of light (plural speeds of light)
  1. (physics) The speed of electromagnetic radiation; in a perfect vacuum it is defined as 299,792,458 metres per second Categories (topical): Physics, Mechanics, Relativity Synonyms: Einstein barrier, Einstein constant, lightspeed, light speed, c Related terms: subluminal, tardyon, luxon, tachyon, faster-than-c, faster-than-light (alt: FTL), superluminal Translations (the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum): shpejtësia e dritës (Albanian), سرعَة الضوء (Arabic), լույսի արագություն (luysi aragutʿyun) (Armenian), işığın sürəti (Azerbaijani), argiaren abiadura (Basque), velocitat de la llum [feminine] (Catalan), 光速 (guāngsù) (Chinese Mandarin), rychlost světla [feminine] (Czech), lysets hastighed (Danish), lichtsnelheid [feminine] (Dutch), lumrapideco (Esperanto), velociá de la lus [feminine] (Extremaduran), valon nopeus (Finnish), valonnopeus (Finnish), vitesse de la lumière (French), velocidade da luz [feminine] (Galician), სინათლის სიჩქარე (sinatlis sičkare) (Georgian), Lichtgeschwindigkeit [feminine] (German), ταχύτητα του φωτός (tachýtita tou fotós) [feminine] (Greek), מהירות האור (Hebrew), fénysebesség (Hungarian), ljóshraði (Icelandic), velocità della luce [feminine] (Italian), c (Italian), 光速 (kōsoku) (Japanese), 광속 (gwangsok) (Korean), gaismas ātrums (Latvian), šviesos greitis (Lithuanian), гэрлийн хурд (gerliin xurd) (Mongolian), lyshastighet [feminine, masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), lysets hastighet [feminine, masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), lysfart [masculine] (Norwegian Nynorsk), ljosfart [masculine] (Norwegian Nynorsk), سرعت نور (Persian), prędkość światła [feminine] (Polish), velocidade da luz [feminine] (Portuguese), viteza luminii [feminine] (Romanian), ско́рость све́та (skórostʹ svéta) [feminine] (Russian), брзина светлости (Serbo-Croatian), brzina svetlosti (Serbo-Croatian), брзина свјетлости (Serbo-Croatian), brzina svjetlosti (Serbo-Croatian), hitrost svetlobe (Slovene), velocidad de la luz [feminine] (Spanish), ᮜᮏᮥ ᮎᮠᮚ (laju cahaya) (Sundanese), ljusets hastighet [common-gender] (Swedish), bilis ng suga (Tagalog), ışık hızı (Turkish), ttốc độ ánh sáng (Vietnamese)
    Sense id: en-speed_of_light-en-noun-~kctIf5u Disambiguation of Mechanics: 77 2 21 Disambiguation of Relativity: 79 2 19 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys, Physical constants Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 2 45 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 67 3 30 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 58 6 37 Disambiguation of Physical constants: 58 3 39 Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics Disambiguation of 'the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum': 88 3 9
  2. (colloquial, figurative) A very rapid speed. Tags: colloquial, figuratively
    Sense id: en-speed_of_light-en-noun-SysuNfU8
  3. (cellular automata) A rate of travel of a signal equal to one cell per generation, the fastest possible speed in the Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods. Categories (topical): Cellular automata
    Sense id: en-speed_of_light-en-noun-m4Gz0R~s Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 2 45 Topics: cellular-automata, computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for speed of light meaning in English (13.6kB)

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          "ref": "2011 September 22, Nick Collins, “Speed of light 'broken' by scientists”, in Daily Telegraph",
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          "word": "işığın sürəti"
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          "word": "argiaren abiadura"
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          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
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          "word": "光速"
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          "code": "cs",
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          "word": "lumrapideco"
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          "word": "სინათლის სიჩქარე"
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          "lang": "Italian",
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          "word": "c"
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          "roman": "kōsoku",
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          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "gwangsok",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "word": "광속"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "lv",
          "lang": "Latvian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "word": "gaismas ātrums"
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          "lang": "Lithuanian",
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          "word": "šviesos greitis"
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          "lang": "Mongolian",
          "roman": "gerliin xurd",
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          "word": "гэрлийн хурд"
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          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
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          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "lysfart"
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          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "word": "سرعت نور"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "word": "prędkość światła"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "velocidade da luz"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "word": "viteza luminii"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "skórostʹ svéta",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "word": "ско́рость све́та"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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        {
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          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
          "word": "brzina svetlosti"
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        {
          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "code": "es",
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          "word": "velocidad de la luz"
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          "lang": "Sundanese",
          "roman": "laju cahaya",
          "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
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          "word": "bilis ng suga"
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          "word": "ışık hızı"
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          "_dis1": "88 3 9",
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          "lang": "Vietnamese",
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          "word": "ttốc độ ánh sáng"
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      "id": "en-speed_of_light-en-noun-SysuNfU8",
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        {
          "ref": "1992 August 14, David I. Bell, “Spaceships in Conway's Life (Part 1)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)",
          "text": "The translated distance divided by the period is the speed of the spaceship. Since the maximum speed of propagation of a signal in Life is one cell per generation, this speed is known as c (the speed of light). This speed is also the fastest possible growth of any finite object for a finite number of generations (think of a long line of ON cells). However, growth (or even just movement) of a finite object for an infinite time cannot occur at this speed.",
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        "(cellular automata) A rate of travel of a signal equal to one cell per generation, the fastest possible speed in the Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods."
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    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "en:Mechanics",
    "en:Physical constants",
    "en:Relativity"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "speeds of light",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "as",
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "common-gender"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "speeds of light"
      },
      "expansion": "speed of light (plural speeds of light)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "subluminal"
    },
    {
      "word": "tardyon"
    },
    {
      "word": "luxon"
    },
    {
      "word": "tachyon"
    },
    {
      "word": "faster-than-c"
    },
    {
      "alt": "FTL",
      "word": "faster-than-light"
    },
    {
      "word": "superluminal"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Physics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: FTL Drive: Appearance Codex entry",
          "text": "As the subjective speed of light is raised within the field, objects outside will appear to red-shift, eventually becoming visible only to radio telescope antennae.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 September 22, Nick Collins, “Speed of light 'broken' by scientists”, in Daily Telegraph",
          "text": "The science world was left in shock when workers at the world's largest physics lab announced they had recorded subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light – a feat that Einstein said was impossible.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The speed of electromagnetic radiation; in a perfect vacuum it is defined as 299,792,458 metres per second"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "physics",
          "physics"
        ],
        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
        ],
        [
          "electromagnetic radiation",
          "electromagnetic radiation"
        ],
        [
          "vacuum",
          "vacuum"
        ],
        [
          "metre",
          "metre"
        ],
        [
          "second",
          "second"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(physics) The speed of electromagnetic radiation; in a perfect vacuum it is defined as 299,792,458 metres per second"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "physics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A very rapid speed."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, figurative) A very rapid speed."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Cellular automata"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992 August 14, David I. Bell, “Spaceships in Conway's Life (Part 1)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)",
          "text": "The translated distance divided by the period is the speed of the spaceship. Since the maximum speed of propagation of a signal in Life is one cell per generation, this speed is known as c (the speed of light). This speed is also the fastest possible growth of any finite object for a finite number of generations (think of a long line of ON cells). However, growth (or even just movement) of a finite object for an infinite time cannot occur at this speed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A rate of travel of a signal equal to one cell per generation, the fastest possible speed in the Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "cellular automata",
          "cellular automata"
        ],
        [
          "signal",
          "signal"
        ],
        [
          "cell",
          "cell"
        ],
        [
          "generation",
          "generation"
        ],
        [
          "Moore",
          "Moore neighborhood"
        ],
        [
          "von Neumann",
          "von Neumann neighborhood"
        ],
        [
          "neighborhood",
          "neighborhood"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(cellular automata) A rate of travel of a signal equal to one cell per generation, the fastest possible speed in the Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "cellular-automata",
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Einstein barrier"
    },
    {
      "word": "Einstein constant"
    },
    {
      "word": "lightspeed"
    },
    {
      "word": "light speed"
    },
    {
      "word": "c"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "sq",
      "lang": "Albanian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "shpejtësia e dritës"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "سرعَة الضوء"
    },
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "luysi aragutʿyun",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "լույսի արագություն"
    },
    {
      "code": "az",
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "işığın sürəti"
    },
    {
      "code": "eu",
      "lang": "Basque",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "argiaren abiadura"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velocitat de la llum"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "guāngsù",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "光速"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "rychlost světla"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "lysets hastighed"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "lichtsnelheid"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "lumrapideco"
    },
    {
      "code": "ext",
      "lang": "Extremaduran",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velociá de la lus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "valon nopeus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "valonnopeus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "vitesse de la lumière"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velocidade da luz"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "sinatlis sičkare",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "სინათლის სიჩქარე"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Lichtgeschwindigkeit"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "tachýtita tou fotós",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ταχύτητα του φωτός"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "מהירות האור"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "fénysebesség"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "ljóshraði"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velocità della luce"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "c"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kōsoku",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "光速"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "gwangsok",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "광속"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "gaismas ātrums"
    },
    {
      "code": "lt",
      "lang": "Lithuanian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "šviesos greitis"
    },
    {
      "code": "mn",
      "lang": "Mongolian",
      "roman": "gerliin xurd",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "гэрлийн хурд"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lyshastighet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lysets hastighet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lysfart"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ljosfart"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "سرعت نور"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "prędkość światła"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velocidade da luz"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "viteza luminii"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "skórostʹ svéta",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ско́рость све́та"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "брзина светлости"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "brzina svetlosti"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "брзина свјетлости"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "brzina svjetlosti"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "hitrost svetlobe"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "velocidad de la luz"
    },
    {
      "code": "su",
      "lang": "Sundanese",
      "roman": "laju cahaya",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "ᮜᮏᮥ ᮎᮠᮚ"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "ljusets hastighet"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "bilis ng suga"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "ışık hızı"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a perfect vacuum",
      "word": "ttốc độ ánh sáng"
    }
  ],
  "word": "speed of light"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.