Gasified

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The transformation during which a material changes from either solid or liquid state into a gas involves the introduction of heat or pressure
2. A procedure by which substances transition into gas form, generally requiring thermal energy or decreasing pressure
3. Changed from a solid or liquid into a gaseous state by applying heat or altering pressure

Etymology: "Gasified" is simply the past tense of "gasify," so its story is really the story of the verb. The base word "gas" was coined in the 1600s by the Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont, who took it from the ancient Greek "khaos," meaning a formless void or chasm. Helmont adapted the Greek sound into a new term for the vapours he was studying, and the word spread through European science from there. "Gasify" is a much simpler construction: it combines "gas" with the suffix "-ify," which comes ultimately from Latin "-ificare," meaning to make or to turn into something. Through Old French "-ifier" and Middle English "-ifien," the suffix arrived in English, where it attached to many nouns and adjectives to form verbs such as "simplify" and "beautify." Adding it to "gas" produced a verb meaning to turn a substance into gas.

Synonyms: vaporized, converted

Antonyms: solidified, liquefied