effloresce

[ ef-luh-res ]

/ ˌɛf ləˈrɛs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR effloresce ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), ef·flo·resced, ef·flo·resc·ing.

to burst into bloom; blossom.

Chemistry.

to change either throughout or on the surface to a mealy or powdery substance upon exposure to air, as a crystalline substance through loss of water of crystallization.
to become incrusted or covered with crystals of salt or the like through evaporation or chemical change.

RELATED WORDS

blossom, flower, flourish, burgeon

Nearby words

Origin of effloresce

1765–75; < Latin efflōrēscere to blossom out, equivalent to ef- ef- + flōrēscere to begin to bloom (flōr(i)-, stem of flōs flower + -ēscere -esce)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for effloresce

Unlike the generality of ugly heroines, you will not see me develop and effloresce into beauty toward the end of my story.
Nancy|Rhoda Broughton
Love of a kind there was, but it was too matter-of-fact and practical in its nature to effloresce into sentimentality.
Women of England, Volume 9 (of 10)|Burleigh James Bartlett
The crystals may be purchased pure, but they effloresce in dry air with loss of water.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
Somewhere at the foot of his brain, an understanding was beginning to effloresce with the sea's water, under the sun.
The Jewels of Aptor|Samuel R. Delany

Do I, from scholar, effloresce into literary man, author by profession?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 402, April, 1849|Various

British Dictionary definitions for effloresce

effloresce

/ (ˌɛflɔːˈrɛs) /

verb (intr)

to burst forth into or as if into flower; bloom

to become powdery by loss of water or crystallization

to become encrusted with powder or crystals as a result of chemical change or the evaporation of a solution

Word Origin for effloresce

C18: from Latin efflōrēscere to blossom, from flōrēscere, from flōs flower

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for effloresce

effloresce

"to come into flower," 1775, from Latin efflorescere "to blossom, spring up, flourish, abound," from ex "out" (see ex-) + florescere "to blossom," from flos (see flora).

Medicine definitions for effloresce

effloresce

[ ĕf′lə-rĕs′ ]

v.

To blossom; bloom.

To become a powder by losing water of crystallization, as when a hydrated crystal is exposed to air.

Related formsef′flo•res′cence n.