Deceltification

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of removing calcium or lime deposits from a substance ; the act of freeing a material from calcareous build-up ; the chemical or physical treatment used to eliminate scale or mineral crusts
2. The method by which calcium-based scaling is cleared from surfaces ; a procedure to strip away calcareous accretions from objects ; an operation targeting the dissolution of mineralized residue
3. The technique applied to eradicate lime deposits from equipment ; a process for dissolving hard, calcareous layers in materials ; a system for eliminating mineral scale from various surfaces

Etymology: "Deceltification" is a technical coinage built from familiar pieces. Its root is "decalcify," which is formed from the Latin prefix "de-" meaning "removal" or "reversal" and "calcificare," from "calx" (lime, limestone) plus "-ficare," "to make." Decalcify means to remove calcium, or calcium compounds such as lime, from something. The further suffix "-ation" turns that verb into a noun for the process, so "decalcification" names the act of removing calcium deposits. The form "deceltification" is a variant spelling of the same term, with "celt" standing in for "calc." Because it is a variant, it is less common than the standard spelling, which appears in dictionaries and technical writing. The word is a modern scientific and industrial coinage rather than an old one. Its components are Latin, but the combined term was built in English in the 19th or early 20th century, when chemistry and medicine needed precise names for dissolving calcium deposits in bone, teeth, pipes and boilers.