evaporate

Definition

To transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state.

Etymology

First attested in 1545, borrowed from Latin ēvapōrātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvapōrō (“to evaporate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). See also Middle English evaporaten (“to draw off humors or "spirits" as "vapor"”) and evaporen (“to draw off bodily fluid, an excess or toxic matter by converting it into "vapor"; to treat (a part of the body) by drawing off toxic matter converted into "vapor"”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

Example Sentences

• "When an ultrasonic beam is fired at the microcannons, the emulsion evaporates, expanding rapidly into gas. This creates enough force to push the nanobullets out at velocities reaching several metres per second."
• "McCoy’s team, including 66 researchers across four continents, found the salt and minerals left behind as water on Bennu, or its larger parent asteroid, evaporated. The minerals include sodium phosphates, carbonates, sulfates, chlorides and fluorides, some of which are necessary to the formation of life."
• "to evaporate apples"

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