pallescentadj.
/pəˈlɛsnt/, U.S. /pəˈlɛs(ə)nt/ Now chiefly Botany and Zoology.
Growing or becoming pale.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective] > becoming pale
palinga1627
pallescent1657
1657 R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Medicinal Materials i, in Medicinal Dispensatory sig. Yy4 It beares Apples like the masculine, but lesser and lutrously pallescent [L. pallescentia].
1818 T. L. Peacock Nightmare Abbey ix. 122 The Genius Loci,..the spirit of black melancholy, began to set his seal on her pallescent countenance.
1891 Bot. Gaz. 16 196 Segments of calyx oval, pallescent.
1908 J. Payne Wrath of Venus in Carol & Cadence 148 Pallescent was Selene's silver horn.
1951 Amer. Midland Naturalist 46 545 The head slightly darker, front and mandibles pallescent.
1977 Brittonia 29 289 The blades involute, dorsally puberulent, in age pallescent, tardily deciduous.
Derivatives
paˈllescence n. rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [noun] > loss of colour
discoloura1398
palingc1450
discolouration1545
discolouredness1585
discolouring1598
decoloration1623
etiolation1784
discolourment1821
pallescence1822
discolorization1827
lightening1839
decolorizing1861
decolorization1871
1822 T. L. Peacock Maid Marian ii. 30 An awful thought, which caused a momentary pallescence in his rosy complexion.
1988 Netherlands Jrnl. Plant Pathol. 94 81 Race 1 [of the mould Fusarium] induced pallescence and withering of leaves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1657