Etiolation

noun

1. The becoming white through loss of natural coloring matter as a result of the exclusion of light or of disease.
2. In <em>horticulture</em>, the rendering of plants white, crisp, and tender by excluding the action of light from them, as celery for the table. Compare <internalXref urlencoded="albinism">albinism</internalXref>.
3. The operation of blanching plants, by excluding the light of the sun; the condition of a blanched plant.
4. Paleness produced by absence of light, or by disease.
5. growth process of <xref>plants</xref> grown in the <xref>absence</xref> of light, characterized by long, weak <xref>stems</xref>, fewer <xref>leaves</xref> and <xref>chlorosis</xref>