Vitrescence

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process or phenomenon of becoming glassy or acquiring a translucent appearance
2. A change in a material's quality leading it to resemble glass in clarity or texture
3. The transformation whereby a substance takes on the smooth, shiny, and semi-transparent trait of glass

Etymology: Glass had a verb of its own in Latin. "Vitrescere" meant to turn into glass or to become glassy. It is built from "vitrum", the Latin word for glass, plus the ending "-escere", which marks the start of a change, as in "effervescere" (to begin to boil or bubble) and "putrescere" (to begin to rot). English formed its noun through the adjective "vitrescent", which descends from the same Latin verb. The noun therefore names the process rather than the finished state. A material that undergoes vitrescence is in the middle of changing into glass, most often when heat fuses a substance such as sand or rock into a hard, glassy mass as it cools.