Dictionary

macerate en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmæs.ə.ɹɪt/ (General-American, UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.

Meanings

1. A macerated substance.

Forms

macerate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmæs.ə.ɹeɪt/ (General-American, UK)

Etymology

First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.

Meanings

1. To soften (something) or separate it into pieces by (or as if by) soaking it in a heated or unheated liquid.
2. To reduce solids to small pieces (in a macerator).
   • Near-synonyms: comminute, crush, pulverize
3. (archaic) To make lean; to cause to waste away.
   • Baal scuttles with ten tails Between as many legs as he could carry— Perhaps Thomas poking through the holes And finding resolution beyond the scales And incorporeal pain of the hammered Messiah, 2006, David Tibet; Michael Cashmore (lyrics and music), “The Dissolution Of The Boat ‘Millions Of Years’”, in Black Ships Ate the Sky, performed by Current 93
4. (obsolete) To subdue the appetite by poor or scanty diet; to mortify.
5. (obsolete) To mortify the flesh in general.
   • “My dear child, how are you employed?” I knew the voice of the Superior, and I replied, “My father, I was sleeping.” “And I was macerating myself at the foot of the altar for you, my child,—the scourge is red with my blood.” I returned no answer, for I felt the maceration was better merited by the betrayer than the betrayed. 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 243:
6. (form-of, obsolete, participle, past) past participle of macerate
   form of macerate

Forms

Deriveds

macerator · unmacerated · macerative · macerater

Relateds

masticate

Synonyms

crush · pulverize · comminute

Translations (17)

gl macerar (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · it macerare (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · lv atmiekšķēt (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · pt macerar (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · ru размачивать (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · de mazerieren (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · la mācerō (to make lean, cause to waste away) · fr macérer (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · eo maceri (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · nl weken (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · ru вымачивать (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · es macerar (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · la mācerō (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · ru изнуря́ть (to subdue the appetite by a poor diet) · pl umartwiać się (to subdue the appetite by a poor diet) · pl macerować (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid) · bg накисвам (to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid)