Suffusions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A process involving the gradual spread or infusion of a substance throughout a medium
2. the act of permeating or saturating an area with a quality or feeling
3. a diffusion that creates a soft or gradual blending of one thing into another

Etymology: "Suffusions" is simply the plural of "suffusion", a noun formed from the verb "suffuse" plus the suffix "-ion". The verb itself comes from Latin "suffundere", meaning to pour or spread beneath or over something, built from "sub-" (under) and "fundere" (to pour). That Latin root is the same one behind "found" and "fusion", so the word carries the original sense of liquid spreading through or over a surface. The suffix took a long road into English. The Latin ending "-ātiō" passed through Old French as "-ation" and into Middle English as "-aciioun", which was gradually reshaped into the modern "-ation" and "-ion" forms. The noun therefore describes the act or result of suffusing: a colour or liquid slowly filling a space until it reaches every part.

Synonyms: inundations, floods, spreads, pervades, doses

Antonyms: drains, withdrawals, removes, depletes, exhausts