A massage technique using long, light, gliding strokes with the palms of the hands, typically used in therapeutic or relaxation massage.
From French 'effleurer' (ex- 'out' + fleur 'flower'), meaning to touch as lightly as a flower. The -age suffix makes it a noun describing the technique.
The name is poetic—massage therapists literally 'flower' across your skin with effleurage strokes, and this French term entered English in the early 1900s when Swedish massage became fashionable.
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