Wednesday Word: Deliquescence

[med_cat]

deliquescent
adjective

del·​i·​ques·​cent ˌde-li-ˈkwe-sᵊnt

1:  tending to melt or dissolve
especially : tending to undergo gradual dissolution and liquefaction by the attraction and absorption of moisture from the air

2: having repeated division into branches

Elms are deliquescent trees.

deliquescence ˌde-li-ˈkwe-sᵊn(t)s
noun

Recent Examples on the Web

His deliquescent tissue had seeped under the keys, short-circuiting the motherboard.
— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026

Big, bold and playfully grotesque, these recall the deliquescent figure sculptures of Willem de Kooning, with a few more accessories tacked on (balls, birds, various tools). — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2023

Etymology

Latin deliquescent-, deliquescens, present participle of deliquescere

First Known Use

1771, in the meaning defined at sense 1
~~

I came across it in this poem recently:

Peonies
 

by Jim Harrison
 

The peonies, too heavy with their beauty,

slump to the ground. I had hoped

they would live forever but ever so slowly

day by day they’re becoming the soil of their birth

with a faint tang of deliquescence around them.

Next June they’ll somehow remember to come alive again,

a little trick we have or have not learned.

(via Read a Little Poetry FB page--many thanks!) 

(they also have a website, do take a look: readalittlepoetry.com/)