reemitted

Reemitted is the past tense and past participle of the verb reemit, meaning to emit again. It describes the release of radiation, particles, or signals after absorption, scattering, or a prior emission. The term is most common in scientific contexts, but can also appear in general descriptions of any process where something that was previously emitted is produced anew.

In science, reemission typically refers to energy that has been absorbed and then radiated again, often at a different wavelength. Examples include fluorescence and phosphorescence, where a substance reemits photons after excitation; astronomical dust grains that reemit absorbed starlight as infrared radiation; and radiative recombination in semiconductors or plasmas, which yields reemitted photons. In radiative transfer, photons may be reemitted following interactions with matter, contributing to the observed spectrum of a source.

Linguistic notes about usage and spelling vary slightly. Most modern English uses "reemitted" without a hyphen, though some writers and older style guides prefer "re-emitted" with a hyphen, especially when the form functions as a compound modifier before a noun (for example, reemitted radiation). As a verb form, however, "reemitted" remains standard. The term is largely confined to technical or scientific writing, where precise description of emission processes is required.