Meanings
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1
noun
A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one.
She was now bending over a huge light wood blaze, with a pipe of rude structure and no small dimensions in her mouth, from which the occasional puff went forth, filling the apartment with the unpleasant effluvia of the vilest leaf-tobacco.
Thesaurus
Word family
Forms
effluvia
Derived forms
effluvialeffluviate
Etymology
From Latin effluvium (“an outlet”), from effluō (“flow out or away”), from ex (“out of, from”) + fluō (“flow”).