abscission

noun

ab·​scis·​sion ab-ˈsi-zhən 

1

: the act or process of cutting off : removal

2

: the natural separation of flowers, fruit, or leaves from plants at a special separation layer

Examples of abscission in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As the nights grow longer, there is not enough sunlight available for the food manufacturing to be efficient, plant hormones — the plant administrators, cause an abscission layer to form at the bottom of the leaf blocking raw materials from entering the leaf. —Kevin Dayhoff, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 2 Oct. 2020

Keeping the leaves tells us a growth process of forming an abscission layer that causes the leaves to drop did not occur, and at least that portion of the plant is dead. —Tom MacCubbin, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2023

It’s a process called abscission, Tauscher said, where the trees retrench those chemicals and release the leaf. —Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Oct. 2021

Day length triggers the trees to lay down an abscission layer, which in turn shuts down the chlorophyll generation. —John Meyer, The Know, 24 Sep. 2019

Eventually, as the veins in the leaf close down, a layer of cells called the abscission layer forms at the base of the leaf stem before falling off. —Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com, 3 Nov. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English abscisioun, borrowed from Medieval Latin abscīsiōn-, abscīsiō "cutting off, felling, amputation," going back to Latin, "aposiopesis," from abscīdere "to cut off or away, remove" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns; spelling abscission (in Late and Medieval Latin as abscissiōn-, abscissiō) by construing the noun as a derivative of Latin abscindere "to tear off or away" — more at abscise, abscissa

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

abscission

noun

ab·​scis·​sion ab-ˈsizh-ən 

1

: the act or process of cutting off

2

: the natural separation of flowers, fruit, or leaves from plants

Medical Definition

abscission

noun

ab·​scis·​sion ab-ˈsizh-ən 

: the act or process of cutting off : ablation