Espume

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A frothy or foamy substance formed on the surface of a liquid, especially the foam produced by agitation or fermentation; the act of producing such foam or froth; a general term for bubbling or effervescent appearance on liquids
2. The white, bubbly matter generated atop liquids during turbulence or chemical reactions; a term denoting the process of creating or appearing as froth; descriptive of a foamy or bubbly overlay on aqueous solutions
3. Froth or foam seen on liquids as tiny bubbles cluster and rise; used to describe the formation or presence of such a frothy layer; applicable to natural or chemical phenomena causing surface effervescence

Etymology: Foam on a boiling pot and the grey film skimmed off its surface are one idea in English, and this term shows it. Middle English "espume" came from Old French "escume" (modern French "écume"), which in turn came from a Frankish form reconstructed as "*skūm". That Germanic root is also the source of Old English "scūm", the ancestor of modern "scum". English already had "spume", borrowed directly from Latin "spuma", so the language ended up with two unrelated words for foam: one Latin, one Germanic. "Spume" survives mainly in poetry and writing about the sea, while "espume" has largely dropped out of use.

Synonyms: foam, froth, lather, bubbles, scum

Antonyms: liquid, calm, stillness