n.
The process of photographing an object by exposing film in a dark room to the light that results from electronic and ionic interactions caused by placing the object in an intense electric field. The photograph shows a light, glowing band surrounding the outline of the object.
[After Semyon Davidovich Kirlian (1900-1980), Russian electrician, and his wife Valentina Khrisanovna Kirlian (died 1971), Russian journalist, codiscoverers of the electric effect upon which it is based.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
