evanesce

American  

[ev-uh-nes, ev-uh-nes] / ˌɛv əˈnɛs, ˈɛv əˌnɛs /

verb (used without object)

evanesced, evanescing

1. to disappear gradually; vanish; fade away.

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evanesce British  

/ ˌɛvəˈnɛs /

verb

1. (intr) (of smoke, mist, etc) to fade gradually from sight; vanish

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Other Word Forms

• evanescible adjective

Etymology

Origin of evanesce

First recorded in 1815–25; from Latin ēvānēscere “to disappear, vanish”; vanish

Explanation

To evanesce is to fade slowly out of sight. When something evanesces, it disappears. Evanesce comes from a Latin term for vanishing, and that's exactly what it means. When something evanesces, it vanishes and is gone. However, this isn't a quick disappearing act; evanescing is gradual and takes a while. As you fly in a plane, the ground gradually evanesces. In a spooky movie, a ghost may slowly evanesce and fade away. A rainbow doesn't stick around for long; it eventually evanesces. Something that is prone or likely to evanesce can be called evanescent.

Example Sentences

His later “wedge” sculptures, slender prisms of color that can reach heights of 8 feet, seemed to evanesce into transparent nothingness at the top.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2020

And, by the way, I think it would evanesce very completely.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 17, 2019

Perhaps Lerner deliberately left this out, deeming it too on-the-nose, but the technical term meaning “to evanesce into vapor,” for a liquid, is “to sublime.”

From Slate • Jul. 8, 2016

Those psychological speculations quickly evanesce in a narrative that spends relatively little time with its central protagonist, who remains a collection of tics and contradictions rather than a fully realized character.

From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2015

Just as he was about to evanesce completely, Frieda, Liz, and Betty burst in from the kitchen.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole