Filtrations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The method of extracting desired substances by forcing a liquid or gas through a filtering material that traps unwanted particles
2. The action of passing a liquid or gas through a medium to remove solids or impurities
3. A technique where a mixture is strained through a porous material to isolate components

Etymology: The plural "filtrations" simply counts separate acts of filtering, so the story belongs to the singular "filtration", which English borrowed from French. Its root is the Latin "filtrum", a felt or woollen cloth used to strain liquids, which the French turned into "filtre". Behind that lies the Proto-Germanic "felląder", meaning felt, the same material that gave the Latin word its sense of a straining cloth. The Latin "filtrum" is the ancestor of the English "filter" too. French formed "filtrer" from "filtre", and then added the suffix "-ation", a common Latin-derived ending that turns a verb into a noun for the process it names. English took "filtration" from French, which makes the noun a fairly recent arrival compared with the medieval Latin root. It describes the process itself, so each plural form refers to a separate run of straining.

Synonyms: permeations, intrusions