etiolated

Definition

Of a plant or part of a plant: pale and weak because of sunlight deprivation or excessive exposure to sunlight.

Etymology

From etiolate + -ed (suffix forming adjectives); modelled after French étiolé, the past participle of étioler (“to become pale and weak, etiolate”), from Norman étieuler (“to become plant stalks left over after harvesting to be used as fodder or for thatching”), probably from éteule (“plant stalks left over after harvesting, stubble”) + -er (suffix forming verbs). Éteule is derived from Old French esteule (“straw”), from Latin stipula (“plant stalk; plant stalk left over after harvesting, stubble; straw”), from Proto-Italic *stipelā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steyp- (“to be stiff; erect”).

Example Sentences

• "[T]he external leaves which enjoy the light are perfectly green, while those within, naturally or artificially covered up and involved in darkness, are blanched or etiolated; they are thereby rendered white, soft, delicate, and tender, and lose the taste and flavour of the native plant in its green state, or retain these very slightly."
• "If there is too great an accumulation of oxygen, as when a plant is kept in a dark place, then it will grow towards the nearest ray of light, which if it does not reach, it will remain white, or etiolated, and sickly."
• "They had been so long accustomed to nestle in their old dwellings sheltered in the narrow closes, "Piled deep and massy, close and high," that they seemed to regard the exposure to open streets and broad thoroughfares pretty much as some etiolated hot-house exotic might be supposed to reflect on its being turned out to the open garden."