Kaolinize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To transform rock or mineral into kaolin, a fine white clay used in ceramics and paper production
2. To convert material into kaolin or to treat it with kaolin through chemical or physical processes
3. To break down or alter rock into kaolin, the clay mineral essential in porcelain and coating applications

Etymology: Kaolin is the white clay that gives porcelain its whiteness, named after Kao-ling, a hill near Jingdezhen in China where it was mined. English took the mineral name from that place name, and "kaolinize" is built on it by attaching the verb-forming suffix "-ize" to the noun. The suffix has a long ancestry of its own. It traces back through Ancient Greek, where verbs were formed with "-ĭ́zō", and passed through Late Latin "-izō" and Middle French "-iser" before arriving in Middle English as "-isen". Over the centuries it became the standard way to turn nouns and adjectives into verbs, which is why English can form new verbs like this one so readily. "Kaolinize" therefore means to convert something into kaolin, or to alter a material by the action of kaolin-forming processes, such as the weathering of feldspar into clay. The word combines an eastern place name with a suffix whose route runs through Greek, Latin and French.