Defervescence
/ˌdiː.fɜːrˈvɛs.əns/noun
The subsiding of fever or excitement.
Did you know?Defervescence comes from Latin de- (“down, away”) + fervescere (“to begin to boil”), so the medical term for a fever breaking was built from the language of a pot cooling off.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gwher-
“to heat, warm”
Latin
Latin
fervēre
“to boil, be hot”
Latin
Latin
fervēscere
“to begin to boil, become hot”
Late Latin
Latin
defervēscere
“to cease boiling, cool off; of a fever, to abate”
16th–17th Century
English
defervescence
“the subsiding of fever or heat”
Modern English
English
defervescence
“the decline or abatement of fever or intense emotion”
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