1. a proceeding outward from a common center.
2. a structure made up of parts that go outward from a center, especially a tract of the central nervous system made up of fibers that go out in different dfirections.
3. energy carried by waves or a stream of particles. One type is electromagnetic radiation, which consists of wave motion of electric and magnetic fields. The quantum theory is based on the fact that electromagnetic waves consist of discrete “packets” of electromagnetic radiation, called photons, which have neither mass nor charge and have an energy inversely proportional to the wavelength of the wave. In order of increasing photon energy and decreasing wavelength, the electromagnetic spectrum is divided into radio waves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, and x-rays.