Dictionary

tumescence en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /tjuːˈmɛsəns/ (UK)

Etymology

First attested 1725, from French tumescence, from Latin tumescēns (“swelling”), present participle of tumēscō (“to begin to swell”), from tumeō (“to swell”) + -ēscō (incohative suffix) (English -esce, in this form -escence), stem from Proto-Indo-European *tum-éh₁- (“to be swelling”), stative stem of *tum- (“to swell”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A swelling due to the presence of fluid.
   • It is still more remarkable that the reeves also, even in the presence of the males, will court each other and have intercourse. We may associate this with the high erotic development of birds, the difficulty with which tumescence seems to occur in them, and their long courtships. 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6):
2. (countable, uncountable) A swollen bodily organ; used especially of erectile tissue.

Forms

Deriveds

nocturnal penile tumescence · detumescence

Synonyms

turgidity · tumidity · ectasis · swollenness · inturgescence · ectasia · bloating · tumescence · nodosity · swelling · bloatedness · distension · turgor · intumescence · turgidity · turgor · turgescence · turgescence · tumidity

Translations (10)

bg оток (swelling due to presence of fluid) · ru о́пухоль (swelling due to presence of fluid) · nl zwelling (swelling due to presence of fluid) · cs zduření (swelling due to presence of fluid) · fi paisuminen (swelling due to presence of fluid) · nl zwelling (swollen organ) · cs topoření (swelling due to presence of fluid) · ru о́пухоль (swollen organ) · fi paisunut elin (swollen organ) · cs duření (swelling due to presence of fluid)