Kaolinizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Transforms feldspar or another mineral into kaolin, a fine white clay, through chemical weathering or alteration
2. Converts rock material into the soft white clay known as kaolin by a process of decomposition
3. Changes a mineral such as feldspar into china clay through hydration and the loss of alkalis over time

Etymology: The word is a plain formation: "kaolin" plus the suffix "-ize", so "kaolinizes" is the third-person singular form of "kaolinize", meaning to convert something into kaolin, or to make it kaolin-like. The suffix has a long lineage of its own. It descends from Ancient Greek "-izein", which Late Latin borrowed as "-izare", and which passed through Old French "-iser" into Middle English as "-isen" before settling into the modern "-ize" spelling in English. The base word has a more striking story. "Kaolin" is the fine white clay used in porcelain, and its name comes from Chinese "gaoling" ("high ridge"), the name of a hill near Jingdezhen, where the clay was mined. European writers adopted the term in the 18th century as the material became known in the West, and "kaolinize" grew out of that mineral name to describe the chemical process by which feldspar and similar rocks alter into kaolin.