etiolate

Other forms: etiolated; etiolating; etiolates

To etiolate is to make something, especially a plant, become pale and weak. A lack of sunshine in your back yard might etiolate the roses you planted there.

You can use etiolate to describe what your uncle does to his house plants when he keeps his curtains closed for weeks — causing them to grow long, pale stems and tiny leaves from lack of sunlight. It's more common to find etiolate and the noun etiolation in science textbooks or botanists' studies. Etiolate comes from the French word étioler, "to blanch," and experts speculate that it may literally mean "to become like straw," from the French Norman étule, "a straw."

Definitions of etiolate

1. verb

   make weak by stunting the growth or development of
   type of:

   nerf, weaken

   lessen the strength of
2. verb

   make pale or sickly
   “alcohol etiolates your skin”

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
3. adjective

   (especially of plants) developed without chlorophyll by being deprived of light
   synonyms: blanched, etiolated

   colorless, colourless

   weak in color; not colorful
4. verb

   bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding sunlight
   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation