Detartrated

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Cleaned of tartar, the hard mineral deposit that builds up on teeth or inside pipes and vessels
2. Having had calcium-based scale or crusty mineral buildup scraped or dissolved away from a surface
3. Freed from deposits of tartrate or hard crust, especially on teeth or the inside of a boiler

Etymology: "Detartrated" is built from "de-", a prefix from Latin "dē" meaning "down, away, off," and "tartrate," a chemical term. Tartrate itself comes from "tartar," the crusty deposit that forms on wine casks and, in the mouth, on teeth. The word "tartar" is the source of the chemical name for salts of tartaric acid, which is found in that crust. So "detartrate" literally means to take the tartar off, and the past-tense form describes a surface that has had that buildup removed. Because the word is a modern scientific formation assembled from these parts, it does not descend from ancient usage; the prefix and base were combined in English in the chemical and dental vocabulary of later centuries. Its meaning stays close to its parts: removing the hard deposit left behind on a surface, whether a wine vessel, a boiler, or a set of teeth.

Synonyms: descaled, decalcified