Evaporations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process by which a liquid changes into a vapor, often occurring due to heat or reduced pressure
2. The transformation of a substance from a phase that is liquid to a gaseous state, typically requiring energy input
3. The act of molecules escaping from the surface of a liquid, resulting in the gas phase without boiling occurring

Etymology: "Evaporations" is simply the plural of "evaporation," so it refers to multiple instances of the process by which a liquid turns into vapour. The noun it belongs to came into English from French "évaporation," which in turn came from the Latin "evaporatio," a noun formed from the verb "evaporare," meaning to disperse in vapour. That Latin verb was built from "e" or "ex," meaning out or away, and "vapor," meaning steam or vapour, so the core image is of something being sent off into the air. The English noun is formed from the verb "evaporate" with the suffix "-ion," a common ending that turns verbs of action into nouns. Because "evaporation" is a process noun, the plural form is used less often, typically when discussing several separate episodes of drying or vaporising, such as the repeated evaporations from different lakes or containers in an experiment.

Synonyms: vaporizations, exhalations