irroration

plural irrorations

1. obsoleteA sprinkling or wetting with dew.

   Generally, to the irroration of the body much use of sweet things is profitable, as of sugar, honey, sweet almonds, pineapples, pistachios, dates, raisins of the sun, corans, figs, and the like.

   1638, William Rawley, History of Life and Death, translation of original by Francis Bacon

2. biologyMarkings reminiscent of spots or dew drops.

   Black, markings formed by pale blue glossy irroration; markings white on costal edge.

   1952, Alexey Diakonoff, Microlepidoptera of New Guinea, page 100

   2 more examples

   Underside: ground-colour similar, both fore and hind wings with extensive irroration of black scale which varies considerably in amount: in some specimens it is very dense and gives a glackish tint to the ground-colour, especially on the hind wing.

   1907, L. Colonel, C.T. Bingham, The Fauna Of British India, page 239

   […] costa with whitish strigulæ separated by dark fuscous or blackish irroration […]

   1969, J. F. Clarke, Exotic microlepidoptera, page 32