effervesce, [ef-er-ves]

verb (used without object)

1. to bubble, fizz or foam as carbonated beverages,or champagne.
2. to come out in bubbles; to rise in bubbles in a liquid as fermenting liquors.
3. to be gay, lively and high-spirited, be vivacious, enthusiastic.

Past participle:..effervesced [ef-er-vest]
Pres. Participle: effervescing
Noun:……………........effervescence, effervescencey
Adj…………………........effervescent
Adv……………….........effervescently, effervescentingly

This is another word with its roots in Latin. The Random House Unabridged says it comes from ef + ferve, hot. The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary says it is from ex, out of +_ fervescere, to begin to boil. My desk Thesaurus says under both effervesce, and effervescence, “see foam.”


Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source

Main Entry: bubble
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: foam
Synonyms: boil, burble, churn, eddy, effervesce, erupt, fester, fizz, froth, gurgle, gush, issue, moil, murmur, percolate, ripple, seep, seethe, simmer, smolder, sparkle, spume, stir, swash, trickle, well
Antonyms: be flat


Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry: foam
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: bubble
Synonyms: aerate, boil, bubble, burble, effervesce, fizz, froth, gurgle, hiss, lather, seethe, simmer, sparkle

Antonyms: be flat; calm, quiet, soothe; condemn, criticize

We could effervesce about this word. Effervescence is a quality that can be enjoyed in beverages and in people. I remember my mother and her sisters effervescing especially when they were all together at family reunions and holidays.

To effervesce in human terms is to emerge from a calm, flat, quiet state of consciousness and begin to warm up, getting warmer and warmer until joy begins to bubble forth.

I looked for examples of usage online:

“Mine are chiefly juvenile productions; the restless effervescence of a mind that would not be still. In those days, the sea too often 'wrought and was tempestuous,' and weed, sand, shingle - all turned up in the tumult.” - Emily Bronte, writing to a friend about some of her poems. (found at http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/egaskell/bl-egaskell-cbronte-23.htm)

“The conclusion to which I come is simply that the Greek and Roman gentlemen and scholars, in the high and palmy state of their literature and art, had used and enjoyed wines similar to the effervescent, foaming, sparkling or creaming wines of Champagne.” - found at
http://www.elfinspell.com/CozzensChampagne.html


“…Erica Cotterill (1881-1950), a flirtatious, irrepressible creature at the time a precocious 17-year-old who bombarded Shaw with letters — strange effervescent ramblings and most times unintelligible.” – “Shaw” is the irrepressible G. B. (dAb) at http://www.schulsonautographs.com/literat.htm


“It also provoked a great effervescence of thought and an
intense literary activity which poured into the Arabic language
and brought about a development of prose.” - at http://www.ewtn.com/library/HUMANITY/ARABLIT.TXT

“Indeed, she left no proofs of poetic genius, more notable than are to be found in the desk of almost any spirited school-girl with a tendency toward emotional effervescence in verse.” –at http://www.dinsdoc.com/tyler_m-1-14.htm

“His Montanism, which had not yet been declared but was already in full religious effervescence, ….” –of Tertullian at http://www.tertullian.org/articles/delabriolle_history.htm

“He had this effervescent puppy like quality to him that you knew that when you saw it - was a rare and special thing indeed.” -at http://skattieboy.blogspot.com/2002_08_01_skattieboy_archive.html

Religious effervescence and puppy like effervescence, two nice usages. Please add your own usages or any that you especially admire.