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decrepitate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
decrepitate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
decrepitate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
decrepitate you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Medieval Latin dēcrepitō, from Latin dē- + crepitō.
Pronunciation
Verb
decrepitate (third-person singular simple present decrepitates, present participle decrepitating, simple past and past participle decrepitated)
- (transitive) To roast (a salt or mineral) until it stops crackling in the fire.
1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Folio, published 2007, page 333:so will it come to pass in a pot of salt, although decrepitated; and so also in a pot of Snow.
- (intransitive) Of salts and minerals, to crackle when heated, indicating a sudden breakdown of their particles.
1837, Magazine of Popular Science, and Journal of the Useful Arts, page 77: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.
1907, M. M. Pattison Muir, A History of Chemical Theories and Laws, page 202: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).