Remission in spectroscopy

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...

, is the reflection or scattering of light by a material. Similar to the word "re-emission", it is the light which is scattered back from a material, as opposed to that which is "transmitted" through the material. The word "re-emission" connotes no such directional character. Based on the origin of the word "emit", meaning "to send out or away", "re-emit" means "to send out again", "transmit" means "to send across or through", and "remit" means "to send back".