Densify

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To increase the compactness or mass of a material while reducing its volume or space To enhance the concentration of an object or substance, resulting in a heavier or more solid form To modify a physical entity by compressing it into a denser arrangement or structure
2. To cause a material or substance to become more tightly packed by reducing its space or volume
3. To increase the concentration or solidity of an object by compressing its internal structure

Etymology: "Densify" is a plain modern formation: the adjective "dense" with the verb-forming suffix "-ify" attached, meaning to make something denser or more compact. The suffix has a longer pedigree than the word it sits on. "-ify" descends from Latin "-ficare" and "-ificare", verb-making elements built from "-ficus" (making) and the stem "-i-", and these reached English through Old French "-ifier" and Middle English "-ifien", which is why so many English verbs ending in "-ify" look Latinate. "Dense" itself comes straight from Latin "densus", meaning thick or crowded. The pairing of a Latin-derived adjective with the Latin-derived suffix is typical of English word-building, where the two parts share a common ancestry even though speakers rarely notice it.

Synonyms: consolidate, thicken, compress

Antonyms: dilute, thin