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effloresce

[ef-luh-res]
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verb (used without object), ef·flo·resced, ef·flo·resc·ing.
  1. to burst into bloom; blossom.
  2. Chemistry.
    1. 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.
    2. to become incrusted or covered with crystals of salt or the like through evaporation or chemical change.
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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. 2018

Related Words for effloresce

blossom, flower, flourish, burgeon

Examples from the Web for effloresce

Historical Examples of effloresce

  • 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

  • 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

  • In that time they begin to effloresce, and to throw out a reddish matter on their surface.

  • 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

  • Do I, from scholar, effloresce into literary man, author by profession?

British Dictionary definitions for effloresce

effloresce

verb (intr)
  1. to burst forth into or as if into flower; bloom
  2. to become powdery by loss of water or crystallization
  3. to become encrusted with powder or crystals as a result of chemical change or the evaporation of a solution
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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

v.

"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).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
effloresce in Medicine

effloresce

(ĕf′lə-rĕs′)
v.
  1. To blossom; bloom.
  2. To become a powder by losing water of crystallization, as when a hydrated crystal is exposed to air.
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Related formsef′flo•res′cence n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.