emanating

Emanating is the present participle of the verb emanate, meaning to issue forth or originate from a source. The word derives from Latin emanare, literally "to flow out." In ordinary usage, something emanates when it comes to be perceived as issuing from a source, whether visible, audible, or otherwise noticeable.

Common examples include physical phenomena such as light and heat emanating from a lamp, or a fragrance emanating from a flower. The term is also used for non-tangible effects, such as influence, authority, energy, or emotions that seem to flow from a person or place. In everyday speech, phrases like "a glow emanating from the stage" or "an aura emanating from the room" are figurative uses of the same idea.

In scientific and technical contexts, "emanation" is sometimes preferred for specific processes. For example, radon emanation refers to the release of radon gas from materials, whereas "emission" is the more general term for the release of particles or photons. Emanation can thus describe the source-to-receiver flow that may be spatial, temporal, or both.

In philosophy, especially in Neoplatonism, emanation denotes a metaphysical process by which all beings originate from a single source in a hierarchy. The word remains common in contemporary writing as a descriptive, non-technical way to characterize something that seems to come forth from a center or origin.