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

These feature watery pools of color that seem to evanesce into nothing, topped by the hard geometries of Gray’s rug patterns, which are rendered in hand-stitched embroidery.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2021

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

From The New Yorker • Jul. 17, 2019

The ethereal vision of Fonny wreathed in smoke isn’t only striking; it exalts this moment and communicates its evanesce, turning emotion and thought into image.

From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2018

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

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