Hydrogenizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of converting a compound by adding hydrogen, particularly in chemical reactions where unsaturated bonds are saturated
2. To transform organic compounds into their hydrogenated forms, enhancing stability, flavor, or digestibility
3. A method of introducing hydrogen to create or modify chemical structures, often used in fuel production and food processing

Etymology: "Hydrogenizes" is the third-person singular present of "hydrogenize," a verb built from "hydrogen" and the suffix "-ize." The first half is a 18th-century French coinage: "hydrogène" was formed from Greek "hudōr," meaning water, and "-gen," meaning "producing," so the name means "water-producer." Antoine Lavoisier's circle gave the gas that name because burning it produces water. The suffix has a longer road. It descends from Greek "-izein," which Latin borrowed as "-izāre," and it passed into English through Middle French "-iser" and Middle English "-isen." English thus made "-ize" a productive way to turn nouns into verbs meaning "to make into, to treat with," and chemists used it freely, so "hydrogenize" follows the pattern of verbs like "oxidize." In chemistry, "hydrogenize" means to add hydrogen atoms across a double or triple bond, turning unsaturated compounds into saturated ones. Food manufacturers made this process familiar when they hardened liquid vegetable oils into solid fats.

Synonyms: saturates, hydrogenate