t(y)üˈmes ə n(t)s noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin tum ēre to swell + English -escence
1. : the quality or state of being tumescent : distention , inflation : as
a. : swelling or teeming fullness
the lush tumescence of equatorial vegetation
the tumescence of the life force within him — Sidney Monas
lyrics … distinguished by a kind of tumescence — Cyril Connolly
b. : inflation
a current critical tumescence — J.L.Lievsay
c. : readiness for sexual activity marked by rising emotional excitement and physical tension with vascular congestion of the sex organs
tumescence … is the really essential part of the process — Havelock Ellis
2. : swollen part : swelling
prairie relieved only by … tumescences — Clifton Fadiman