calcine

See also: calciné

English

WOTD – 19 April 2022

Etymology

The verb is derived from Late Middle English calcinen (“(alchemy, medicine) to heat (something) until it turns to powder; to change the nature of (something) by heating”) [and other forms],^[1] from Old French calciner (modern French calciner (“to calcinate; to calcine”)) and from its etymon Medieval Latin calcināre (“(alchemy) to burn like lime; to reduce to calx”),^[2] from Late Latin calcīna (“inorganic material containing calcium, lime”) + -āre (suffix forming present active infinitive forms of verbs). Calcīna is derived from Latin calcis, the genitive singular of calx (“chalk; limestone”),^[3] possibly from Ancient Greek χᾰ́λῐξ (khálix, “small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble”); further etymology unknown, possibly Pre-Greek.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkælsaɪn/, /-sɪn/, /kælˈsaɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkælˌsaɪn/
• Rhymes: (one pronunciation) -aɪn
• Hyphenation: calc‧ine

Verb

calcine (third-person singular simple present calcines, present participle calcining, simple past and past participle calcined)

1. (transitive)
   1. (alchemy, historical) To heat (a substance) to remove its impurities and refine it.
   2. (physical chemistry) To heat (a substance) without melting in order to drive off water, etc., and to oxidize or reduce it; specifically, to decompose (carbonates) into oxides, and, especially, to heat (limestone) to form quicklime.

      Synonyms: (obsolete) calcinate, chark

      • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVI.] The Wonderfull Operations of Fire: The Medicinable Properties that It Hath: And the Prodigious Significations Observed thereby.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 599:

        Fire […] burneth and calcineth ſtone, vvhereof is made that morter vvhich bindeth all vvork in maſonry.

      • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii:

        I ſent you of his fæces there, calcin'd. / Out of that calx, I'ha'vvonne the ſalt of Mercurie.

   3. (by extension) To heat (something) to dry and sterilize it.
   4. (figuratively)
      1. To purify or refine (something).
      2. To burn up (something) completely; to incinerate; hence, to destroy (something).

         Synonym: (obsolete) calcinize

         • [1633], George Herbert, “Easter”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 33:

           [A]s his death calcined thee to duſt, / His life may make thee gold, and much more juſt.

         • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The First Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 50, page 108:

           I vvould gladly knovv hovv Moſes vvith an actuall fire calcin'd or burnt the Golden Calfe unto povvder, for that myſticall metall of Gold, vvhoſe ſolary and celeſtiall nature I admire, expoſed unto the violence of fire, grovveth onely hot and liquifies, but conſumeth not: […]

         • 1668, John Denham, “The Progress of Learning”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, 4th edition, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 181:

           Fiery diſputes, that Union have calcin'd, / Almoſt as many minds as men vve find, / And vvhen that flame finds combuſtible Earth, / VVhence Fatuus fires and Meteors take their birth, / Legions of Sects, and Inſects come in throngs; / To name them all, vvould tire a hundred tongues.

         • 1855, Robert Browning, “‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.’”, in Men and Women […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza 11, page 139:

           It nothing skills: I cannot help my case: / The Judgment's fire alone can cure this place, / Calcine its clods and set my prisoners free.

         • 1877, Alfred Tennyson, Harold: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 74:

           […] He fain had calcined all Northumbria / To one black ash, but that they patriot passion / Siding with our great Council against Tostig, / Out-passion'd his!

2. (intransitive, physical chemistry) Of a substance: to undergo heating so as to oxidize it.
   • a. 1728 (date written), Isaac Newton, “[The Third Book of Opticks.] [Qu[estion] 25. Are there not other original Properties of the Rays of Light, besides those already described?]”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. […], 4th edition, London: […] William Innys […], published 1730, →OCLC, page 329:

     This Cryſtal is a pellucid fiſſile Stone, clear as Water or Cryſtal of the Rock, and without Colour; enduring a red Heat without loſing its tranſparency, and in a very ſtrong Heat calcining without Fuſion.

Conjugation

infinitive	(to) calcine
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	calcine	calcined
2nd-person singular	calcine, calcinest†	calcined, calcinedst†
3rd-person singular	calcines, calcineth†	calcined
plural	calcine
subjunctive	calcine	calcined
imperative	calcine	—
participles	calcining	calcined

Conjugation of calcine

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• calcinable
• calcinate (obsolete)
• calcination
• calcinator (obsolete)
• calcinatory
• calcined (adjective)
• calciner
• calcining (adjective, noun)
• calcinize (obsolete)
• precalcine
• recalcination
• recalcine
• uncalcined

 

Translations

to heat (a substance) to remove its impurities and refine it

to heat (a substance) without melting in order to drive off water, etc., and to oxidize or reduce it

Azerbaijani: bişirmək (az) Bulgarian: калцинирам (kalciniram) Catalan: calcinar (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 煅 (zh) (duàn) Danish: udgløde Finnish: kalsinoida (fi), pasuttaa (fi) French: calciner (fr) German: calcinieren, kalzinieren (de), ausglühen, brennen (de), glühen (de), Kalk brennen, kalkbrennen, rösten (de) Greek: απασβεστώνω (el) (apasvestóno) Hungarian: kalcinál (hu), éget (hu), hevít (hu), kiéget (hu) Italian: calcinare (it), calcinàre (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: kalsinere Nynorsk: kalsinera, kalsinere Polish: prażyć (pl) impf, uprażyć pf Romanian: a calcina Russian: кальцини́ровать (ru) impf (kalʹcinírovatʹ), обже́чь (ru) pf (obžéčʹ), обжига́ть (ru) impf (obžigátʹ), прока́ливать (ru) impf (prokálivatʹ), выка́ливать (ru) impf (vykálivatʹ), выкаля́ть (ru) impf (vykaljátʹ) (informal), вы́калить (ru) pf (výkalitʹ) Spanish: calcinar (es) Tamil: சுடு (ta) (cuṭu)

to heat (something) to dry and sterilize it

to purify or refine (something) — see purify,‎ refine

to burn up (something) completely — see incinerate

to destroy (something) — see destroy

of a substance: to undergo heating so as to oxidize it

Bulgarian: калцинирам се (kalciniram se) Danish: gløde ud Finnish: pasuttua Hungarian: kalcinálódik, ég (hu), hevül (hu), kiég (hu)

Noun

calcine (plural calcines)

1. Something calcined; also, material left over after burning or roasting.

Translations

something calcined; material left over after burning or roasting

References

1. “calcīnen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
2. “calcine, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021.
3. “calcine, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• calcination on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Calcine”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 26.

Anagrams

• calcein, laccine

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: calcinent, calcines

Verb

calcine

1. inflection of calciner:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Noun

calcine f

1. plural of calcina

Portuguese

Verb

calcine

1. inflection of calcinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

calcine

1. inflection of calcinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative