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lactescent

[lak-tes-uh nt]
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adjective
  1. becoming or being milky.
  2. Botany, Entomology. secreting or producing a milky juice.
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Origin of lactescent

1660–70; < Latin lactēscent- (stem of lactēscēns), present participle of lactēscere to turn into milk, produce milk. See lact-, -escent
Related formslac·tes·cence, lac·tes·cen·cy, nounnon·lac·tes·cent, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lactescent

Historical Examples

  • Lactescent, producing milky juice, as does the Milkweed, &c.

    The Elements of Botany

    Asa Gray

British Dictionary definitions for lactescent

lactescent

adjective
  1. (of plants and certain insects) secreting a milky fluid
  2. milky or becoming milky
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Derived Formslactescence, noun

Word Origin

C18: from Latin lactescēns, from lactescēre to become milky, from lact-, lac milk
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
lactescent in Medicine

lactescent

(lăk-tĕs′ənt)
adj.
  1. Becoming milky.
  2. Milky.
  3. Secreting or yielding a milky juice, as certain plants and insects.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.