It is possible to enhance the luminance of a cold-cathode type discharge lamp and to contribute to a prolongation of service life thereof. A discharge lamp 1 is provided with an electrode 3 having a cup 4 with such a shape that a bottom is provided at each of both opposed ends of the glass tube 2. The cup 4 is connected to a lead-in wire 8 which is inserted through the end of the glass tube 2 and held thereby. The collision-preventing ring 5 covering an end surface of the cup 4 is provided to the open end 4a of the cup 4. The porous tungsten disk 6 impregnated with a ternary metal oxide composed of barium (Ba), aluminum (Al), and calcium (Ca) as an electron emission material is provided at a bottom in an inside of the cup 4.