efflorescence

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a powdery or crystalline deposit left on a surface when dissolved salts migrate and the water evaporates

   A white saline efflorescence covered patches of the desert ground.

2. 2
   noun

   a process or period of flowering, flourishing, or full creative development

   The city experienced an efflorescence of music and architecture.

From Latin efflorescere, 'to begin to bloom,' formed from ex-, 'out,' + florescere, 'to flower,' from flos, 'flower.' Chemistry and geology extended the image of blooming to crystals or powder appearing on a surface.

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