tumescence

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*tum-éh₁-“to be swelling”
2. Latin · derived fromtumescēns“swelling”
3. French · borrowed fromtumescence
4. English todaytumescence

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”).

Words from the same roots