etiolate
English
editEtymology
editFrench étioler, from Norman French étieuler, ultimately from Old French estuble (“stubble”), from Latin stupla, from stipula (“straw, stubble”) (English stubble).
Pronunciation
edit- enPR: ēʹtē-ə-lāt', IPA(key): /ˈiːti.əleɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Hyphenation: eti‧o‧late
Verb
editetiolate (third-person singular simple present etiolates, present participle etiolating, simple past and past participle etiolated)
- To make pale through lack of light, especially of a plant.
- To make pale and sickly-looking.
- 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:
- She was a very lovely woman in her late thirties, in a silk dress of screaming scarlet that would have etiolated a white woman to bled veal.
- 1995, Martin Amis, The information:
- Gwynn and Richard were at the Westway Health and Fitness Centre, surrounded by thirty or forty etiolated drunks: playing snooker.
- (intransitive) To become pale or blanched.
Related terms
editTranslations
editto make pale through lack of light
|
to make a person pale and sickly-looking
|
Adjective
editetiolate (comparative more etiolate, superlative most etiolate)