pulverulence

“They look like a lotus, and some are this incredible white-silver, from the powdery coating on their leaves—the ‘farina,’ or pulverulence—that is a protective mechanism for the sun.

In a sudden revolt of his youthful blood he swore that he would enjoy such things; he grew bold; then, coming back to the place opening into the drawing-room, where there was now a larger gathering—it kept moving about in a kind of luminous pulverulence—he stood to watch the quadrilles, blinking his eyes to see better, and inhaling the soft perfumes of the women, which floated through the atmosphere like an immense kiss.

The tempering materials—used in greater or lesser quantity according to the character of the vessel to be made—consisted of shell, sand, and potsherds reduced to various degrees of pulverulence.

Associated words: impoverish, impoverishment. powder, n. dust, pulverulence; cosmetic, rouge; pounce; efflorescence. powder, v. pulverize, triturate, comminute, levigate. powdery, a. friable, loose; dusty, pulverized, pulverulent, mealy. power, n. potency, might, cogency, efficacy, force; armipotence, omnipotence; influence, sway, command, domination, authority; faculty, endowment, gift. powerful, a. mighty, potent, drastic, efficacious, intense, strong, dynamic, puissant, effective, omnipotent, armipotent, stentorian, invincible, cogent, commanding. powerless, a. impotent.