Chlorinations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of introducing chlorine into a compound or system for purposes such as disinfection or chemical alteration
2. The act of treating substances with chlorine to enhance properties or eliminate contaminants
3. A method employed in water treatment or organic chemistry involving the use of chlorine to achieve desired chemical reactions

Etymology: Chlorine was named in 1810 by Humphry Davy, who derived the name from the Greek "khlōrós", meaning pale green or greenish-yellow, a nod to the gas's colour. The word "chlorinate" was then built on "chlorine" with the suffix "-ate", a standard form for verbs meaning to treat or combine with a substance, so to chlorinate something is to treat it with chlorine. The noun "chlorination" adds the suffix "-ion", which turns a verb into the name of the act or process. Its plural, "chlorinations", refers to separate instances of that process, such as the repeated treatments applied to a water supply or a batch of material. The word is a plain technical coinage from the 19th-century chemistry vocabulary rather than an inherited term.