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saponify

sa·po·nify

uncommon

verb

1.

become converted into soap by being hydrolized into an acid and alcohol as a result of being treated with an alkali

  • “the oil saponified”
2.

convert into soap by hydrolizing an ester into an acid and alcohol as a result of treating it with an alkali

  • “saponify oils and fats”

Origin

From French saponifier, from Late Latin sāpō, sāpōnem (“soap”).

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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.