efflorescence
(ɛflɒˈrɛsəns)
[a. F. efflorescence, as if ad. L. *efflōrescentia, f. efflōrescent-em, pr. pple. of efflōrescĕre to effloresce: see -ence.]
1. The process of producing flowers, or bursting into flower; the period of flowering.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §389 The Spirit of the Plant is..severed from the grosser Juyce in the Efflorescence. 1869 Goulburn Purs. Holiness ii. 15 They are the blossom on the fruit-tree, an efflorescence which shows the tree's vitality. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 117 The tendency to efflorescence in the trees of America..has encouraged their diffusion through Europe. |
2. fig. A development like that of blossom; an abundant or ostentatious growth; the ‘flower’ of age, etc.
| 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 40 His impertinent efflorescence of Rhetorick upon so mean Topicks. 1675 Evelyn Terra (1729) 14 The pared-off Turf is the very fat, and Efflorescence of the Earth. a 1711 Ken Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 187 Lord, who in Efflorescence of thy Age Wouldst from the World thy Spirit disengage. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 141 ¶11 Mirth can never please, but as the efflorescence of a mind loved for its luxuriance. 1831 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 284 Of Fable Literature this was the summer-tide and highest efflorescence. 1865 Lecky Ration. II. vi. 265 That noble efflorescence of charity which marked the first ages of Christianity. |
† 3. Colour developed on the skin, either in the ordinary course of nature, or as the result of disease. Obs. in gen. sense.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. x. 330 A shadow or darke efflorescence in the outside. 1782 V. Knox Ess. (1819) III. cxxxiii. 69 The hectic efflorescence on the countenance of an invalid. |
b. Pathol. ‘A morbid redness, or rash of the skin’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
| 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. v. 152 There is a threefold difference of Efflorescences in the skin. 1783 J. C. Smyth in Med. Commun. I. 149 The efflorescence on her arms [is] entirely gone. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 135 In measles, infection reaches its greatest power during the eruptive stage and the stage of efflorescence. |
4. Chem. The process of efflorescing, in various senses (see effloresce 2 a, b, c); also concr. the powdery deposit which is the result of this process.
| 1667 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. 326 To afford an efflorescence which..appear'd to be Vitriol. 1671 Kirkby in Phil. Trans. (1672) VII. 4070 It [an inland sea, near Danzick] becomes..green in the midle with an hairy efflorescence. 1677 Plot Nat. Hist. Oxfordsh. 62 Pyrites are..the efflorescence of Minerals. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) Add. 10 We found under it Efflorescences of pure Salt. 1828 H. Steuart Planter's Guide 189 The sulphate of iron is..distinguished by an efflorescence of small white crystals. 1858 O. W. Holmes De Sauty, Whitened round his feet the dust of efflorescence. 1886 Roscoe Elem. Chem. 183 [Nitrate of potassium] occurs as an efflorescence on the soil. |