efflorescence
noun/ˌɛfləˈɹɛsəns/
Etymology Borrowed from French efflorescence, from Latin efflōrēscō (from ex- (“out”) + flōrēscō (“to blossom”)) + -ence. By surface analysis, effloresce + -ence.
Figuratively Rapid flowering of a culture or civilisation etc.
- 1919, a time when African American hopes for a just future following their service in World War I were dashed by violent reassertions of white supremacy, including the efflorescence and expansion of the KKK into the Midwestern and northwestern U.S.2015, Heidi Nast, “Pit Bulls, Slavery, and Whiteness in the Mid- to Late-Nineteenth-Century U.S.”, in Rosemary-Claire Collard, Kathryn Gillespie, editors, Critical Animal Geographies, page 138:
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The formation of a powdery surface on crystals, as a hydrate is converted to anhydrous form by losing loosely bound water of crystallization to the atmosphere.
Business, Construction, Manufacturing An encrustation of soluble salts, commonly white, deposited on the surface of stone, brick, plaster, or mortar; usually caused by free alkalies leached from mortar or adjacent concrete as moisture moves through it.
Geography, Geology, Natural sciences An encrustation of soluble salts, deposited on rock or soil by evaporation; often found in arid or geothermal environments.
- I’d hoped that when the black hole of the Donald Trump presidency ended, redirected energy might allow for a cultural efflorescence. So far that hasn’t happened.2022 August 29, Michelle Goldberg, “The Book That Explains Our Cultural Stagnation”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Derived terms
- effloresce, efflorescent