Spumose

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Covered with foam, or tending to produce froth, like a frothy wave or a bubbling liquid
2. Resembling foam in texture, appearance, or the way it bubbles up over a surface
3. Frothy and foamy, describing something that has a light, bubbly, or frothing quality

Etymology: "Spumose" comes from Latin "spūmōsus," meaning "foamy," built from "spūma," foam, with the suffix "-ōsus," meaning "full of." Latin speakers used the same pattern for many descriptive adjectives, so the word is a plain, transparent formation: something "full of foam" is spumose. The Latin adjective passed into Middle English as "spumous," and "spumose" is an alternative form of that same English word. Its ancestry runs back to the ancient root for foam, which is why the Latin noun for foam, "spūma," sits behind the whole family of words.

Synonyms: spumous, foamy, frothy, spumy, bubbly