Gelled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Transformed into a semi-solid state resembling jelly, often used to describe liquids that thicken or solidify
2. Turned from a fluid into a gel-like consistency by cooling or chemical reaction
3. Changed into a soft, jelly-like mass as a result of solidification processes

Etymology: Gelled comes from "gel," which the Scottish chemist Thomas Graham coined as a shortening of "gelatine," the substance made by boiling animal tissue. Graham was studying the difference between substances that pass through membranes and those that do not, and he needed a name for the wobbly, semi-solid state that gelatine forms as it cools. "Gelatine" itself traces back through Italian "gelatina" to Latin "gelatus," from "gelare," meaning "to freeze," so the word's oldest meaning is about cold. The verb took its shape from the noun, as many chemical verbs do. To say a liquid gelled is to say it has taken on that same firm, jelly-like texture. Speakers later applied it figuratively, so plans or ideas that "gel" are ones whose separate parts suddenly come together into a coherent whole.

Synonyms: set, hardened

Antonyms: liquefied