marcescent (adj.)

"withering, liable to decay, ephemeral," 1727, from Latin marcescentem (nominative marcescens), present participle of marcescere "to wither, languish, droop, decay, pine away," inchoative of marcere "to wither, droop, be faint," from Proto-Italic *mark-e-, from PIE root *merk- "to decay" (source also of Sanskrit marka- "destruction, death;" Avestan mareka- "ruin;" Lithuanian mirkti "become weak," merkti "to soak;" Ukrainian dialect morokva "quagmire, swamp," Middle High German meren "dip bread into water or wine," perhaps also Middle Irish mraich, Welsh brag "a sprouting out; malt").