etiolate

(ē'tē-ə-lāt')

v., -lat·ed, -lat·ing, -lates.

v.tr.

1. Botany. To cause (a plant) to develop without chlorophyll by preventing exposure to sunlight.
2. 1. To cause to appear pale and sickly: a face that was etiolated from years in prison.
   2. To make weak by stunting the growth or development of.

v.intr. Botany
To become blanched or whitened, as when grown without sunlight.

[French étioler, from Norman French étieuler, to grow into haulm, from éteule, stalk, from Old French esteule, from Vulgar Latin *stupula, from Latin stipula.]

etiolation e'ti·o·la'tion n.

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verb

To lose normal coloration; turn pale: blanch, bleach, pale, wan. See colors/colorless.

to bleach and alter the natural development of by excluding sunlight; to make pale and sickly

Blanching or paleness of a plant grown in the dark; due to lack of chlorophyll.

For a list of words related to etiolation, see:

• Practice, Tools, and Techniques - etiolation: bleaching of plant due to light deprivation

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