Atomizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of converting a liquid into tiny particles or spray of droplets
2. Transforming a fluid into a mist or fine spray by dispersing it into small droplets
3. Splitting a liquid into very small droplets to form a vapor or fine spray

Etymology: Atomizing is the present participle of "atomize", which the source derives from "atom" plus the suffix "-ize". The atom itself traces back to Ancient Greek "átomos", literally "uncuttable", built from the negative prefix "a-" and "tomos", a cut or slice, from "témnō", to cut. The Greeks used the idea for particles too small to divide, a sense that passed through Latin "atomus" and Middle English "attome" before reaching modern English as "atom". The suffix "-ize" has a longer route. It came into English through Middle French "-iser" from Late Latin "-izāre", which was itself borrowed from Greek verbs ending in "-ízein". English gained it as "-ise" and "-ize" spellings, and it became a productive way to turn nouns into verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat with". Applied to the atom, "atomize" meant to reduce something to tiny particles, and from there the sense shifted to breaking a liquid into a fine mist.

Synonyms: pulverizing, dispersing, fragmenting