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Glite Dictionary
🌸 To blossom 🧂 To form crystals
to effloresce

to effloresce

9.9
To form a white, powdery layer on a surface when water dries
  • verb
  • /ˌɛf.ləˈrɛs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : eflorescer
  • Over time, the bricks began to effloresce with a white, powdery crust.

Examples

  • Salt deposits effloresce on the walls of the old cellar during the dry season.

  • If the water evaporates quickly, minerals may effloresce on the surface of the stone.

  • The salt began to effloresce on the surface of the container.

  • Why does this compound effloresce when exposed to air?

  • When the humidity is low, the salt will effloresce, forming white crystals on the surface.

  • The surface of the old plaster began to effloresce after being exposed to the dry air for weeks.

  • After the rainy season, the minerals in the soil may effloresce, leaving a white powdery residue.

Synonyms

to crystallize
vsto effloresce
  • Specialized
8 6.0

To form crystals, like salt or sugar from a liquid

forms a powdery surface crust of crystals from evaporation or air exposure

Antonyms

to dissolve
64 2.4

To mix into a liquid so it becomes part of it

to liquefy
  • Specialized
18 4.4

To change a solid or gas into a liquid, often by heating

How Crystallized

to effloresce
  • Specialized
9.9
crusting
4.5
powdery
4 3.0

Surface Forms

effloresce infinitive
effloresced past
effloresced past participle
efflorescing present participle
effloresces third person singular

Morphology

effloresce = flor (opaque) = ef + flor + esce

The prefix 'ef-' does not clearly relate to the process of forming a crust or powdery surface.

Etymology

Effloresce is also used for minerals that make a white, powdery 'bloom' on surfaces because the Latin parts ex- 'out' and flor- 'flower' give the image of crystals 'flowering' out of the stone. That's why a salt or mineral crust on a wall or brick is described as efflorescence.