tumescence
6 synonyms for tumescence, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — Swelling caused by a build-up of fluid in part of the body.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Etymology
First recorded in 1725, the word comes from French tumescence, from Latin tumescēns (“swelling”), the present participle of tumēscō (“to begin to swell”), itself formed from tumeō (“to swell”) and -ēscō (an incohative suffix; English -esce, here -escence). The stem traces to Proto-Indo-European *tum-éh₁- (“to be swelli...
Full origin of tumescence →