Dictionary

effluvium en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈfluːvi.əm/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Latin effluvium (“an outlet”), from effluō (“flow out or away”), from ex (“out of, from”) + fluō (“flow”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one.
   • And he breathed the breath of the house—a dank savour rather than a smell—a cold, musty effluvium as from underground vaults mingled with the reeking exhalations of linoleum and mildewed and rotten woodwork. 1906, O. Henry, The Furnished Room:
   • It was the mere effluvium of the flame, the subtle ether that it cast off as it passed, working on us, and making us feel strong as giants and swift as eagles. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • She was now bending over a huge light wood blaze, with a pipe of rude structure and no small dimensions in her mouth, from which the occasional puff went forth, filling the apartment with the unpleasant effluvia of the vilest leaf-tobacco. 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XV, page 188:
2. (countable, uncountable) A condition causing the shedding of hair.
   • Reversible hair loss or effluvium occurs following either endogenous or exogenous damage to anagen hair follicles[…]. 2000, Dr. Otto Braun-Falco et al., “Diseases of hair”, in Dermatology, →ISBN, page 1136:

Forms

Deriveds

effluviate · telogen effluvium · effluvial

Translations (22)

ga eisilteach (gaseous or vaporous emission) · hy գարշահոտություն (gaseous or vaporous emission) · ru миа́зм (gaseous or vaporous emission) · ru испаре́ние (gaseous or vaporous emission) · eo haladzo (gaseous or vaporous emission) · cmn 臭氣 /臭气 (gaseous or vaporous emission) · sv utdunstning (gaseous or vaporous emission) · es efluvio (gaseous or vaporous emission) · de Effluvium (gaseous or vaporous emission) · it effluvio (gaseous or vaporous emission) · fi katku (gaseous or vaporous emission) · fr effluvium (gaseous or vaporous emission) · sv effluvium (condition causing the shedding of hair) · hy նեխահոտություն (gaseous or vaporous emission) · fi kaljuuntuminen (condition causing the shedding of hair) · eo efluvo (gaseous or vaporous emission) · el αναθυμίαση (gaseous or vaporous emission) · sv håravfall (condition causing the shedding of hair) · bg изпарение (gaseous or vaporous emission) · sv dunst (gaseous or vaporous emission) · cmn 惡臭 /恶臭 (gaseous or vaporous emission) · cmn 脫髮症 /脱发症 (condition causing the shedding of hair)