voorwerp
/ˈvɔːɹˌwɛɹp/
voorwerp noun: an ionization or light echo, especially the quasar ionization echo known as Hanny's Voorwerp.
Noun
voorwerp (plural voorwerps)
- An ionization or light echo, especially the quasar ionization echo known as Hanny's Voorwerp.
- The voorwerp turns out to be a cloud of gas tens of thousands of light-years across, which has somehow been heated to high enough temperatures to emit visible light. The exact mechanism of the heating is still under debate, but probably[…]2014 December 9, Chad Orzel, Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist, Basic Books, →ISBN
- Other voorwerps have since been spotted, but Hanny holds the distinction of finding the first, with nothing more exotic than a public website and the power of the human brain.2018 February 15, Matt Brown, Everything You Know About Space is Wrong, Batsford, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- voorwerpje
Synonyms of voorwerp
Forms of voorwerp
| plural | voorwerps |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Voorwerp |
Origin of voorwerp
From Dutch voorwerp (“object”), after Hanny's Voorwerp, discovered in 2007 by Dutch schoolteacher Hanny van Arkel.
Questions about voorwerp
- What does voorwerp mean?
- Voorwerp means an ionization or light echo, especially the quasar ionization echo known as Hanny's Voorwerp.
- What part of speech is voorwerp?
- Voorwerp is a noun.
- How do you pronounce voorwerp?
- Voorwerp is pronounced /ˈvɔːɹˌwɛɹp/.
- What is the plural of voorwerp?
- The plural of voorwerp is voorwerps.
Words near voorwerp in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: voorwerp (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “voorwerp.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/voorwerp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.