Fluorination

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The method of incorporating fluorine into organic compounds alters their properties for improved function in various chemical applications
2. A chemical reaction that adds fluorine atoms to molecules transforms their characteristics for purposes in materials science and medicine
3. The process of introducing fluorine into chemical structures modifies their reactivity and stability for use in pharmaceuticals and industrial materials

Etymology: Fluorination is a plain technical formation: it is simply "fluorine" with the suffix "-ation" attached, and the suffix does the work of turning an element's name into a name for an action. The word's real history is therefore the history of its base, which is where the surprise lies. Fluorine was named for the mineral fluorite, the source of its compounds, and "fluor" itself comes from the Latin "fluere," meaning "to flow," because fluorite was used as a flux that helped metals and glass melt and run. The suffix has its own long road into English. The "-ation" ending descends from Latin "-ātiō," which passed through Old French "-ation" and Middle English "-acioun" before settling into the modern form. It is one of the most productive suffixes in English, and it attaches readily to newly coined element names, which is how a chemist's noun for a reaction can be built on the spot.