| Effloresce | v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Effloresced p. pr. & vb. n. Efflorescing ] [ L. efflorescere to bloom, blossom; ex + florescere to begin to blossom, incho., fr. florere to blossom, fr. flos a flower. See Flower. ] 1. To blossom forth. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Chem.) To change on the surface, or throughout, to a whitish, mealy, or crystalline powder, from a gradual decomposition, esp. from the loss of water, on simple exposure to the air; as, Glauber's salts, and many others, effloresce. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. To become covered with a whitish crust or light crystallization, from a slow chemical change between some of the ingredients of the matter covered and an acid proceeding commonly from an external source; as, the walls of limestone caverns sometimes effloresce with nitrate of calcium in consequence of the action of nitric acid formed in the atmosphere. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Efflorescence | n. [ F. efflorescence. ] 1. (Bot.) Flowering, or state of flowering; the blooming of flowers; blowth. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Med.) A redness of the skin; eruption, as in rash, measles, smallpox, scarlatina, etc. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Chem.) (a) The formation of the whitish powder or crust on the surface of efflorescing bodies, as salts, etc. (b) The powder or crust thus formed. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Efflorescent | a. [ F. efflorescent, L. efflorescens, -entis, blooming, p. pr. of efflorescere. See Effloresce, v. i. ] 1. That effloresces, or is liable to effloresce on exposure; as, an efflorescent salt. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Covered with an efflorescence. [ 1913 Webster ] |
