effluvium

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
20
Words With Friends
25
Letters
9
Pronunciation
/ɪˈfluːvi.əm/

Definition of effluvium

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)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.”
    “It was the mere effluvium of the flame, the subtle ether that it cast off as it passed, working on us, and making us feel strong as giants and swift as eagles.”
    “And he breathed the breath of the house—a dank savour rather than a smell—a cold, musty effluvium as from underground vaults mingled with the reeking exhalations of linoleum and mildewed and rotten woodwork.”
See all 2 definitions

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)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.”
    “It was the mere effluvium of the flame, the subtle ether that it cast off as it passed, working on us, and making us feel strong as giants and swift as eagles.”
    “And he breathed the breath of the house—a dank savour rather than a smell—a cold, musty effluvium as from underground vaults mingled with the reeking exhalations of linoleum and mildewed and rotten woodwork.”
  2. (countable, uncountable)A condition causing the shedding of hair.
    “Reversible hair loss or effluvium occurs following either endogenous or exogenous damage to anagen hair follicles[…].”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin effluvium (“an outlet”), from effluō (“flow out or away”), from ex (“out of, from”) + fluō (“flow”).

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