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Glite Dictionary
to pervaporate

to pervaporate

9.9
Make a liquid pass through a thin membrane by turning it into gas to separate substances
  • verb
  • /pərˈveɪpəˌreɪt/
  • Specialized
: pervaporar
  • During the experiment, the solvent began to pervaporate rapidly, leaving behind a concentrated solution.

Examples

  • To purify the water, scientists allowed it to pervaporate through a specialized membrane.

  • The process can pervaporate the solvent effectively.

  • If the compound fails to pervaporate, the separation process will not be effective.

  • Can you pervaporate this?

  • To purify the water, scientists allowed it to pervaporate through a specialized membrane.

  • If the compound fails to pervaporate, the separation process will not be effective.

  • During the experiment, the solvent began to pervaporate rapidly, leaving behind a concentrated solution.

Synonyms

to evaporate
vsto pervaporate
40 3.5

Change a liquid like water into gas by heating

does this through a semipermeable membrane as a separation method
to vaporize
vsto pervaporate
  • US
10 5.3

To change from a liquid into gas, usually by heating

uses a membrane to remove liquid by selective vapor transport
to evap
vsto pervaporate
  • Informal
1 9.2

To change from a liquid into a gas and disappear

refers to a membrane separation process rather than informal speech

Surface Forms

pervaporate infinitive
pervaporated past
pervaporated past participle
pervaporating present participle
pervaporates third person singular

Morphology

pervaporate = vaporate + vapor (semi-transparent) = per + vapor + ate

The word is compositionally 'per-' (through) + 'vapor' + '-ate', and the meaning 'evaporate through a membrane' matches this structure, but the prefix is a Latin scientific prefix and the term is specialized, so it may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Pervaporate comes from the parts per- meaning 'through' and vapor meaning 'steam' or 'gas', like in vapor or evaporate. So to pervaporate is to make a liquid turn into vapor and pass 'through' a membrane, which is exactly the idea behind this separation process.