detergence

9.9

Ability of soap or a cleaning product to remove dirt

noun
/dɪˈtɜrdʒəns/

Archaic

: detergencia

Excessive detergence in laundry products can sometimes cause fabrics to lose their softness.

Examples

The detergence of the soap made it highly effective for removing grease from dishes.
Scientists measure the detergence of various cleaning agents to determine their effectiveness.
The detergence of this soap is impressive.
High detergence is essential for effective cleaning.
The detergence of this specialized cleaner ensures that stubborn stains are effectively removed.
In laboratory tests, the detergence of the new formula outperformed traditional cleaning products.
For best results, choose a product with high detergence when tackling tough grease in the kitchen.

Synonyms

detergency

vsdetergence

Specialized

1 8.1

The ability of a soap to remove dirt from clothes and dishes

is the general property of cleansing or removing dirt across contexts

Surface Forms

detergence singular

detergences plural

Morphology

detergence = detergent (transparent) = detergent + ence

The noun is a standard nominalization of the adjective 'detergent' meaning 'the quality of being cleaning', so the meaning follows directly from the base word and the suffix.

Etymology

Detergence comes from Latin parts de- 'off' and tergere 'to wipe', so it originally meant 'to wipe off' dirt. So, like the cleaning product detergent, detergence is the power or quality of removing dirt.