Glaciates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cover with ice; to cause to become glacial or frozen in a geological sense; to change a landscape due to glacial action or the advance of ice in specific regions
2. The process of transforming an area into one covered by ice; the geological shift that leads to glacial formations; the act of making something cold or icy
3. The action of creating ice cover over surfaces; the effect of glaciers reshaping topography through movement and melting; the process of chilling something significantly through temperatures below freezing

Etymology: "Glaciates" is simply the third-person singular present form of "glaciate," so the history belongs to the verb itself. That verb was borrowed from Latin "glaciātus," the past participle of "glaciō," meaning "to freeze." The Latin root "glaciō" is itself built on "glacies," the Latin word for ice, which is where the familiar "glacier" family of words also begins. The "-ate" ending is a verb-forming suffix, which is why English speakers can recognize the shape of the word at once: it turns a noun-like idea into an action. To glaciate is, in effect, to turn a landscape into ice, or to cover it with ice, which is the sense the word keeps today.

Synonyms: freezes, chills, ice over, solidifies, frosts

Antonyms: melts, warms, thaws, liquefies, defrosts