Dictionary

refrigerate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒəɹeɪt/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From participle stem of Latin refrigerō (“to make cold”), from re- + frigerō.

Meanings

1. (broadly, obsolete, transitive) To make (someone or something) cool; to cool down.
   • [T]he other [artery] goes to the lungs, to fetch air to refrigerate the heart. 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
   • Lo here hath euery fayth[f]ull man a ſure promiſe, yͭ in the feruent heate of tentacion or tribulacion […] God gyueth the faythful man yͭ hopeth in him, yͭ ſhadow of hys holy ſhoulders, which are brode ⁊ large, ſufficient to refrigerate ⁊ refreſhe the man in that heate, and in euerye trybulacion he putteth hys ſhoulders for a defence betwene. 1534 (date written; published 1553), Thomas More, “A Dyalogue of Comforte agaynste Tribulacyon, […]. A Special Comfort in Al Temptacion.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book II, page 1179, column 1:
   • They vvould go over board vvith a Rope faſtned about them, that by drenching themſelves a vvhile in the Sea, they might eaſe the internal Heat vvhich parched them; and vvhen they ſtood any of them to ſteer the Veſſel, they vvould have their Feet in a Pail of Sea VVater to refrigerate 'em. 1702, Cotton Mather, “[Book VI (Thaumaturgus: […]).] Chapter I. Christus Super Aquas: Relating Wonderful Sea Deliverances.”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, section VI (Sore Calamities at Sea Survived), page 5, column 2:
   • Persons born in winter are, so to say, of a cold and frosty disposition and can thereby exert a refrigerating influence on the temperature of the air. 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 104:
2. (specifically, transitive) To keep (something) cool by containing within a refrigerator.
   • Please refrigerate your uncooked meats at or below 40° Fahrenheit.

Forms

Deriveds

rerefrigerate

Relateds

refrigerator · refrigerant · refrigeration

Synonyms

fridge

Translations (13)

io koldigar (keep cool in refrigerator) · bg охлаждам (keep cool in refrigerator) · io frigorizar (keep cool in refrigerator) · ro refrigera (keep cool in refrigerator) · fi jäähdyttää (keep cool in refrigerator) · es refrigerar (keep cool in refrigerator) · fr réfrigérer (keep cool in refrigerator) · gd fionnaraich (keep cool in refrigerator) · ca refrigerar (keep cool in refrigerator) · de kühlen (keep cool in refrigerator) · pt refrigerar (keep cool in refrigerator) · arz يسقع (keep cool in refrigerator) · ru храни́ть в холоди́льнике (keep cool in refrigerator)