lactescent

[ lak-tes-uhnt ]
See synonyms for lactescent on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. becoming or being milky.

  2. Botany, Entomology. secreting or producing a milky juice.

Origin of lactescent

1
1660–70; <Latin lactēscent- (stem of lactēscēns), present participle of lactēscere to turn into milk, produce milk. See lact-, -escent

Other words from lactescent

  • lac·tes·cence, lac·tes·cen·cy, noun
  • non·lac·tes·cent, adjective

Words Nearby lactescent

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How to use lactescent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lactescent

lactescent

/ (lækˈtɛsənt) /


adjective
  1. (of plants and certain insects) secreting a milky fluid

  2. milky or becoming milky

Origin of lactescent

1
C18: from Latin lactescēns, from lactescēre to become milky, from lact-, lac milk

Derived forms of lactescent

  • lactescence, noun

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