The verb to etiolate is, in English quite rare, but since it has a French -> Latin etymology it might have a common term in Spanish.
Is there an equivalent word in Spanish, however archaic, to the English verb etiolate?
If there is not an exact equivalent term, are there any others sharing a common definiens?
None of both words, etiolar (verb) or etiolación (noun) are included in the Spanish dictionary, but are widely used in botany and gardening. That is, "you're authorized" to use them without problems because they are technical concepts.
To say that a plant loses its color, you can tell blanquear (whitening) or palidecer (blanching). If you mean that the plant is weakened by lack of light, you can say ahilar.
Algunas de las plantas se han etiolado.
Ha comenzado el proceso de etiolación de algunas de las plantas.
Se ha observado etiolación en algunas de las plantas.
Algunas plantas se han blanqueado por falta de luz.
Algunas plantas se han ahilado.
