-esce, -escent, -escence

(Latin: beginning to be, becoming; to be somewhat; a suffix that forms nouns and adjectives)

roentgenoluminescence (s) (noun), roentgenoluminescences (pl)
The glowing or emission of light that shows up on a surface of tissue that has been exposed to X-rays: The roentgenoluminescence which was visible to Dr. Anderson was the result of the bones in Jeff's foot which were being exposed to radiation.
rubescence (s) (noun), rubescences (pl)
A condition of being reddish, or a process of blushing: "The rubescence that spread across the sky at sunset was spectacular."

"When Mark stumbled and fell down, he had a rubescence on his face because he was so embarrassed."

scintillescent
1. Scintillating feebly: "My mother walked home in the scintillescent starlight while the darkness pressed in on her from the countryside."
2. Sparkling or twinkling.
senesce (verb), senesces; senesced; senescing
To grow older; to reach maturity: The dog was senescing and was not as active as he used to be.

Even though the trees in the forest had senesced they were in fact still healthy and green.

Set of books representing sources of information for word info topics.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

—Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729)
senescence (s) (noun), senescences (pl)
1. The physical period of being elderly: There are researchers, physicians, and others who believe that people are born, grow rapidly to maturity, and then coast along on a more or less comfortable plateau until they begin the period of senescence.

In human life, senescence is equated with the period of functional-bodily decline that precedes death, with the appearance of age-related diseases.

2. The normal process or condition of aging, as distinguished from the effects of disease in advanced years: The gerontologist, Dr. McMahon, met with Mrs. Nelson to discuss the senescence that she was experiencing, now that she was well over 95 years old.
3. Etymology: from Latin senescere, “to grow old” from senex, "old."
The process of aging.
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"People don't grow old. When they stop growing, they become old."

—Anonymous
Senescence begins
And middle age ends
The day your descendants
Outnumber your friends.
—Ogden Nash

People are the only creatures on earth who can change their biology by what they think and feel

It would be impossible to isolate a single thought or feeling, a single belief or assumption, that doesn't have some effect on aging, either directly or indirectly.

Because the mind influences every cell in the body, human aging is fluid and changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time, and even reverse itself.

A few words from Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
—By Deepak Chopra, M.D.; Harmony Books; New York; 1993.
senescent (adjective), more senescent, most senescent
Approaching an advanced age: Mark's white hair was a senescent sign that he was past his prime.

"Seven Ages of Man" or "All the World's a Stage"

William Shakespeare from "As You Like It"

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling (whimpering, sobbing) and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard (leopard),
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon (tender chicken) lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws (proverbs) and modern instances (examples);
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon (old fool),
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans* teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.
(*without)
somnolescence (s) (noun), somnolescences (pl)
A preference or a strong desire to sleep.
sonoluminescence (s) (noun), sonoluminescences (pl)
In physics, a brilliance that is produced in certain materials by high-frequency sound waves or phonons: The physics students in Mr. Greg's class watched the creation of sonoluminescence in a test tube, watching the bubbles, created by sound waves, pop and emit bright flashes.
sonoluminescent (adjective), more sonoluminescent, most sonoluminescent
A reference to the emission of short bursts of lucency from imploding bubbles in a liquid when excited by sound: Various sonoluminescent sparkling lights may occur whenever sound waves of sufficient intensities create gaseous cavities within a liquid to quickly collapse.

The sonoluminescent bubbles in the thick liquid in the test tube appeared like bright and instant glowing brilliances that quickly disappeared.

spinescent (adjective) (not comparable)
Concerning plants that have thorns and spines: Such spinescent plants have leaf, root, or stem modifications with stiff ends, like rose prickles, and have the function of discouraging or hindering animal consumption.
spinulescent (adjective); more spinulescent, most spinulescent
Descriptive of something that is spiny, or rather somewhat thorny: In his biology class at school, Jack read that the species Aloe buchananii was a spinulescent perennial herb with stems up to 20 cm long and 5 cm thick!
tabescence
Progressively wasting away.
tabescent
1. Wasting away.
2. Characteristic of tabes.
thermoluminescence (s) (noun), thermoluminescences (pl)
Glowing factors resulting from exposure to high temperatures: The stones from the cave produced a green thermoluminescence as a reaction to the heat that was applied to them.
thermoluminescent (adjective), more thermoluminescent, most thermoluminescent
Descriptive of the production of incandescence by a substance when its temperature is increased: Thermoluminescent reactions take place when certain substances have been exposed to the action of X-rays.

By measuring the amount of thermoluminescent gleaming that is given off, the duration of exposure to radiation can be determined; so, it has been used to determine the age of various minerals and archaeological artifacts.