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effluvium

[ih-floo-vee-uhm]

Origin

noun, plural -vi·a

[-vee-uh] , -vi·ums.

a slight or invisible exhalation or vapor, especially one that is disagreeable or noxious.

Origin:
1640–50; < Latin, equivalent to ef- ef- + fluv-, base of fluere to flow (see effluent) + -ium -ium

Related forms

ef·flu·vi·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Effluvium is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

effluvium (ɛˈfluːvɪəm)

—n , pl -via, -viums
	an unpleasant smell or exhalation, as of gaseous waste or decaying matter

[C17: from Latin: a flowing out; see effluent]

ef'fluvial

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

effluvium

1640s, from L. effluvium "a flowing out," from effluere (see effluence).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

effluvium ef·flu·vi·um (ĭ-fl&oomacr;'vē-əm)
n. pl. ef·flu·vi·ums or ef·flu·vi·a (-vē-ə)

A shedding, especially of hair.
An exhalation, especially one of bad odor or injurious influence. No longer in technical use.

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"Humanity is the rich effluvium, it is the waste and the manure and the soil, and from it grows the tree of the arts."

-Ezra Pound

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