Senescence can be traced back to Latin senex, meaning "old." Can you guess which other English words come from senex? Senile might (correctly) come to mind, as well as senior. But another one might surprise you: senate. This word for a legislative assembly dates back to ancient Rome, where the Senatus was originally a council of elders composed of the heads of patrician families. There's also the much rarer senectitude, which, like senescence, refers to the state of being old (specifically, to the final stage of the normal life span).
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebTrees are undergoing leaf senescence and color changes earlier than normal because the plants aren't getting enough water. Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 10 Sep. 2022 Solving the mystery of how turtles avoid senescence may eventually lend insight into human aging.Wired, 19 July 2022 Some evolutionary theories propose that senescence is the result of an energy trade-off.Wired, 19 July 2022 This physical deterioration, or senescence, often causes an uptick in mortality risk as older animals become susceptible to predators or disease.New York Times, 23 June 2022 Travel bans went into a senescence after the First World War, first because of a lack of international coöperation between the wars and then because of the seeming triumph of antibiotics. Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2021 Cellular senescence – the zombie state in which cells forget to die – is one of the nine hallmarks of aging: targeting and eliminating these cells is thought to have potential for Longevity benefits in humans. Alex Zhavoronkov, Forbes, 29 June 2022 Cellular senescence was discovered by Hayflick and Moorhead in 1961. Gabriel A. Silva, Forbes, 1 Feb. 2022 Your skin can be sent into the senescence phase in several different ways, including internal aggressors (hormonal changes, stress, illness) and external factors like pollution or overexposure to the sun.ELLE, 6 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
senescent, from Latin senescent-, senescens, present participle of senescere to grow old, from sen-, senex old