Dictionary

decrepitate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /dɪˈkɹɛpɪteɪt/

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin dēcrepitātus, perfect passive participle of dēcrepitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē- + crepitō.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To roast (a salt or mineral) until it stops crackling in the fire.
   • so will it come to pass in a pot of salt, although decrepitated; and so also in a pot of Snow. 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Folio, published 2007, page 333:
2. (intransitive) Of salts and minerals, to crackle when heated, indicating a sudden breakdown of their particles.
   • It is, however, remarkable, that the greater number of bodies which decrepitate, are really anhydrous and fixed, such as sulphate of potash, sulphate of barytes, chloride of sodium, &c. 1837, Magazine of Popular Science, and Journal of the Useful Arts, page 77:
   • That substance was called salt, because, according to some authors, it is obtained by the action of the sun (sol) on sea-water, according to others, because it decrepitates in the fire (exsilire=to crackle and spring about). 1907, M. M. Pattison Muir, A History of Chemical Theories and Laws, page 202:

Forms

Relateds

crepitate · decrepitation