decrepitate

decrepitate

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin dēcrepitō, from Latin dē- + crepitō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈkɹɛpɪteɪt/

Verb

decrepitate (third-person singular simple present decrepitates, present participle decrepitating, simple past and past participle decrepitated)

1. (transitive) To roast (a salt or mineral) until it stops crackling in the fire.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Folio 2007, p. 333:

     so will it come to pass in a pot of salt, although decrepitated; and so also in a pot of Snow.

2. (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, p. 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).

Related terms

• decrepitation