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Glite Dictionary
to saponify

to saponify

1 9.9
To turn a fat or oil into soap by mixing it with a strong base
  • verb
  • /səˈpɒnɪfaɪ/
  • Specialized
: saponificar
  • To make homemade soap, you need to saponify fats with a strong alkali solution.

Examples

  • Sediments were initially saponified to free esters that occur naturally in the environment.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Born in 1973, its scientific name—saponified starch-graft poly-acrylonitrile copolymers—was too cumbersome to catch on with anyone outside the scientific community.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The scientist will saponify the oil in order to create a natural soap.

  • You can saponify coconut oil by mixing it with lye and allowing the reaction to occur.

Surface Forms

saponify infinitive
saponified past
saponified past participle
saponifying present participle
saponifies third person singular

Morphology

saponify = sapon (opaque) = sapon + ify

The base 'sapon' is not a standalone English word, so the derivation is not transparent to most learners.

Etymology

Saponify comes from the Latin root sapo which means 'soap' and the suffix -ify which means 'make'. So, to saponify is to 'make' something into soap, which fits the chemical process of turning fat or oil into soap.