Dictionary

marcescent en · ADJ

Etymology

From Latin marcescens, present participle of marcescere.

Meanings

1. (also, figuratively, not-comparable, of an organ such as a leaf or blossom, rare) Withered, but still attached.
   • “But,” she answered, “granting that Mon Cul is a remarkable creature, that he is the elder statesman among monkeys, that his marcescent eyelids have opened upon sights and splendors about which the most romantic among us only dream,[…]” 1990, Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction, page 75:
   • How often is the flower of human life marcescent, tenacious of its old estate when the blooming-time is past. a. 1893, Edith M. Thomas, The Undertime of the Year, published in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 72 (October 1893), page 452
2. (not-comparable) Able to revive when moistened.

Relateds

immarcescible

Translations (1)

fr marcescent (botany)