effloresce

American  

[ef-luh-res] / ˌɛf ləˈrɛs /

verb (used without object)

effloresced, efflorescing

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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effloresce British  

/ ˌɛflɔːˈrɛs /

verb

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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Etymology

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 )

Example Sentences

Two decades later the image would effloresce in the story/novella “Cousins”:

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2015

But eventually the virus predominates in the blood and the primitive cells effloresce into cancer.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the broad principles will effloresce into all manner of perfectnesses and all fruits.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John by Maclaren, Alexander

This wide, general commandment of our text is sufficiently definite, thinks Paul; for if the light be in you it will naturally effloresce into all forms of beauty.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John by Maclaren, Alexander

They will effloresce into manifold shapes of beauty and fruitfulness, of which the Prophet signalises three.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets. St Matthew Chapters I to VIII by Maclaren, Alexander