tumescence

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tumescence

/tjuːˈmɛsəns/ UK

Where it comes from

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”).

noun tumescences

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.
Similar: tumidity, turgescence, turgidity, turgor, bloatedness, bloating, distension, ectasia, ectasis, intumescence, inturgescence, nodosity
countable, uncountable A swollen bodily organ; used especially of erectile tissue.

Translations

Every language

noun swelling due to presence of fluid

Русский	о́пухоль ópuxolʹ

noun swollen organ

Русский	о́пухоль ópuxolʹ

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MLA

"tumescence." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tumescence. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tumescence. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tumescence

Chicago

"tumescence." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tumescence.

BibTeX

@misc{tumescence_2026,
  title = {tumescence},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tumescence},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}