Iodinised

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Treated with iodine, or having iodine added to it, as in a chemical or medical preparation
2. Having been infused or combined with the element iodine for disinfecting or nutritional purposes
3. Describing something that has been impregnated or dosed with iodine to alter or preserve it

Etymology: "Iodinised" is the British spelling of "iodinized," the past participle of the verb "iodinise," meaning to treat or impregnate with iodine. The verb is built from "iodine" plus the verbal suffix "-ise" (or "-ize"), and it therefore dates from the early nineteenth century, when chemists began naming substances after the element. "Iodine" itself was named by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1813, who derived it from the Greek "iodes," meaning violet-coloured, because the vapour of the element, first isolated by Bernard Courtois from seaweed ash around 1811, shows a striking violet hue when heated. The suffix "-ine" was added following the pattern of other element names such as chlorine, which had been coined a few years earlier. The adjective simply describes something that has had iodine added to it, such as a salt, a wound dressing or a tincture. Its formation is entirely regular, so the word is a plain technical coinage rather than one with a dramatic backstory.

Synonyms: iodized, iodinated