Link Centre Dictionary

lyophilization

lyop·hi·li·zation

uncommon

noun

1.

a method of drying food or blood plasma or pharmaceuticals or tissue without destroying their physical structure; material is frozen and then warmed in a vacuum so that the ice sublimes

Origin

First use appears c. 1894 in the US. lyo- + philos + -ization (alternatively analyzed as lyophilize + -ation), from Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen, to dissolve”) + φίλος (phílos, “beloved”) + -ίζειν (-ízein) + Latin -ātiō, due to the dried product being able to rapidly reabsorb the solvent and restore the original substance, hence “lyophil” (solvent-loving). Popularized from 1960 by Louis R. Rey. Cognates exist in other European languages by means of the same construction.

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.