pubescence
(pjuːˈbɛsəns)
[a. F. pubescence (= med.L. pūbēscentia in Du Cange): see pubescent and -ence.]
1. The fact or condition of arriving at puberty; also = puberty 1.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. xii. 216 Solon divided it into ten Septenaries, because in every one thereof a man received some sensible mutation, in the first is Dedentition or falling of teeth: in the second Pubescence. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 91 Young men when entering upon or emerging from pubescence. |
2. Bot. The soft down which grows on the leaves and stems of many plants; the character or condition of being pubescent or downy.
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. xviii. (1765) 211 Pubescence..is an Armature, by which Plants are defended from external Injuries. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 151 Herbaceous plants,..with a simple pubescence. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 288 Marrubium... Hoary, pubescence almost woolly. |
3. Zool. The soft down which occurs upon certain parts of various animals, esp. insects.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xliv. 203 In this disease when the animal [flesh-fly] is dead..its almost invisible pubescence grows into long hairs. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxx. (1856) 261 The downy pubescence of the ears. |