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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[Cf. F.

pubescence

The quality or state of being pubescent, or of having arrived at puberty.

Sir T. Browne.

A covering of soft short hairs, or down, as one some plants and insects; also, the state of being so covered.

Noun.

[L. pubescens, pubesco, to shoot, to grow mossy or hairy.]

The state of a youth who has arrived at puberty; or the state of puberty.

In botany, hairiness; shagginess; the hairy or downy substance on plants.

pubescence ‎(countable and uncountable, plural pubescences)