etiolate
[ee-tee-uh-leyt]
- to cause (a plant) to whiten or grow pale by excluding light: to etiolate celery.
- to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.
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- (of plants) to whiten or grow pale through lack of light.
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Origin of etiolate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for etiolated
Historical Examples
His voice was hollow, etiolated like a flower grown in darkness.
The Jewels of AptorSamuel R. Delany
Etiolated, blanched by excluding the light, as the stalks of Celery.
The Elements of BotanyAsa Gray
The green colour of etiolated plants may be restored by exposure to light.
The New Gresham EncyclopediaVarious
His abstract and etiolated internationalism has been replaced by the warm humanity of writers like, say, David or Pernerstorfer.
The Open Secret of IrelandT. M. Kettle
Suddenly began the plaint of the organ, and some half-dozen voices sang a hymn; and these pale, etiolated voices interested her.
Evelyn InnesGeorge Moore
etiolate
- botany to whiten (a green plant) through lack of sunlight
- to become or cause to become pale and weak, as from malnutrition
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Word Origin
C18: from French étioler to make pale, probably from Old French estuble straw, from Latin stipula
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for etiolated
etiolate
v.
of plants, "grown in darkness," 1791, from French étiolé, past participle of étioler "to blanch" (17c.), perhaps literally "to become like straw," from Norman dialect étule "a stalk," Old French esteule "straw, field of stubble," from Latin stipula "straw." Related: Etiolated.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper