effloresce

American  

[ef-luh-res] / ˌɛf ləˈrɛs /

verb (used without object)

effloresced, efflorescing

1. to burst into bloom; blossom.

2. Chemistry.

   1. to change either throughout or on the surface to a mealy or powdery substance upon exposure to air, as a crystalline substance through loss of water of crystallization.

   2. to become incrusted or covered with crystals of salt or the like through evaporation or chemical change.

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effloresce British  

/ ˌɛflɔːˈrɛs /

verb

1. to burst forth into or as if into flower; bloom

2. to become powdery by loss of water or crystallization

3. to become encrusted with powder or crystals as a result of chemical change or the evaporation of a solution

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Etymology

Origin of effloresce

1765–75; < Latin efflōrēscere to blossom out, equivalent to ef- ef- + flōrēscere to begin to bloom ( flōr ( i )-, stem of flōs flower + -ēscere -esce )

Example Sentences

Two decades later the image would effloresce in the story/novella “Cousins”:

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2015

But eventually the virus predominates in the blood and the primitive cells effloresce into cancer.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is called "water of crystallization"; if it passes into the air by evaporation, the crystal crumbles to a powder- and is then said to effloresce.

From An Introduction to Chemical Science by Williams, Rufus Phillips

In oil, verdigris is permanent with respect to light and air, but moisture and an impure atmosphere change its colour, and cause it to effloresce or rise to the surface through the oil.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Salter, Thomas

At ordinary temperatures it crystallizes from aqueous solutions in large colourless monoclinic prisms, which effloresce in dry air, and at 35�C. melt in their water of crystallization.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various