Dechlorinated

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A process in which chlorine is removed from a substance, particularly water, to make it safer for consumption or use
2. Pertaining to water that has undergone treatment to eliminate chlorine, thereby reducing its potential harm
3. Describing a state in which a material no longer contains chlorine, often resulting from purification or filtration methods

Etymology: "Dechlorinated" is a technical coinage built from parts that were each in use long before the word itself. "Chlorine" was named in 1810 by Humphry Davy, who derived it from the Greek "chlōros", meaning pale green, a reference to the gas's colour. The prefix "de-" comes from Latin, where it means "down" or "away from", and in English it has long been used to mean "remove" or "reverse". Attaching these to the verb-forming suffix "-ate" produced "dechlorinate", meaning to remove chlorine from something. The word is therefore a plain compound rather than a historical survival: its meaning follows directly from its parts. "Dechlorinated" is the past-tense and participial form of that verb, so it describes something from which chlorine has already been taken away, such as treated water or a filtered sample.

Synonyms: purified, decontaminated