Word of the Day – Etiolate

Etiolate (verb)

ee-tee-oh-layt

to cause (a plant) to whiten or grow pale by excluding light. / to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of colour or vigor.

First recorded in 1785–95; French étioler “to make pale, etiolate (plants),” probably derivative of a Norman French dialect form of standard French éteule

Example sentences

“Upon picking up the boards, they wondered if the etiolated lawn would ever recover.”