Distillen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To purify a liquid or extract its essence by heating it into vapor and cooling it back ; to let fall or trickle down slowly in small drops
2. Archaic term for refining a substance through vaporizing and recondensing it ; an old way of describing something dripping or trickling in drops
3. Old verb meaning to separate and collect the pure essence of a liquid through vapor and condensation ; to drip or fall slowly, drop by drop

Etymology: The word traces back to the Latin "stilla," meaning a single drop of liquid. Latin speakers added "de-," meaning "down," to form "distillare," to drip down. The image was literal: liquid falling drop by drop, which is what the still did when it collected vapour and condensed it. The term passed through Old French "distiller" into English. The Middle English form "distillen" kept the infinitive ending "-en," which later disappeared, leaving the modern "distil." English speakers later applied the verb figuratively, to extract the essence of something, as when a writer distils an argument into a few lines.