effloresce
(ɛflɒˈrɛs)
[ad. L. efflōrescĕre, f. ex out + flōrescĕre to blossom, f. flōs, flōr-is a flower.]
1. † a. To bloom, burst forth into flowers (obs.). b. To burst forth into something resembling a flower. c. To burst forth as a plant when flowering; const. into.
| 1775 Sir E. Barry Observ. Wines 25 They will..begin to effloresce and shoot out into Flowers. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 432 Fungi germinate, effloresce, disseminate, and die, during the evolutions of the seasons. 1826 Good Bk. Nat. (1834) II. 18 Zoophytes, or Plant-animals, so denominated from their efflorescing like plants. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 144 Efflorescing into two or three coecal ampullæ. |
2. Chem. a. Of a crystalline substance: To change over the surface, or throughout, to ‘flowers’ or fine powder, owing to the loss of the water of crystallization on exposure to the air.
| 1788 W. Nicholson tr. Fourcroy's Nat. Hist. & Chem. II. 305 Some salts..readily effloresce, and continue to fall in pieces, till the whole becomes a fine white powder. 1791 Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. iii. i. 214 It effloresces, that is, it parts with its water of crystallization in the air, and assumes the appearance of flour. 1860 H. W. Reveley in Jrnl. Soc. Arts VIII. 323/2 Tufo, a volcanic production, never effloresces. |
b. Of a salt: To come (in solution) to the surface (of the ground, etc.) and there crystallize. Also, To form a crust (by capillary attraction and evaporation) on the sides of a vessel containing a solution.
| 1820 T. Cromwell Excurs. Ireland vii. 61 The vitriolic particles..are seen to effloresce in various places. 1868 Dana Min. (1880) 636 Mirabilite..effloresces with other salts on the limestone below the Genesee Falls. |
c. Of the ground, a wall, etc.: To become covered with a powdery crust of saline particles left by evaporation from a solution which has been drawn to the surface by capillary attraction.
| 18.. Dana (W.) The walls of limestone caverns sometimes effloresce with nitrate of lime. |
3. fig. a. (after 1) To ‘blossom out’, break out into brilliant display. b. (after 2 c) Of hidden agencies, etc.: To come to the surface, become manifest.
| 1834 Foster Pop. Ignorance Knowledge..has seemed at last beginning to effloresce through the surface of the ground. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) III. iii. i. 101 The secret courses of civic business..effervescing & efflorescing..as a concrete Phenomenon. 1864 Sat. Rev. 31 Dec. 812/1 A disposition..to effloresce into extremely tall talk. 1865 Pall Mall G. 13 Apr. 10 The man who effloresces in later life into the full-blown social science orator. |