Kaolinizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Transforming feldspar or other aluminosilicate rock into the fine white clay known as kaolin through weathering or chemical change
2. Undergoing a process in which minerals break down and turn into the soft white clay called kaolin, often by the action of water and acids
3. Altering rock material so that it becomes kaolinite-rich china clay, a change commonly produced by hydrothermal or weathering processes

Etymology: Kaolin is the white clay named after Kaoling, a hill near Jingdezhen in China, where porcelain-making clay was mined. The name reached Europe through the Chinese word for "high ridge" and became a standard term for this fine white clay. Its partner, the suffix that turns a noun into a verb meaning "to make into" or "to change into," comes from Greek "-izein" and passed into English through Latin and French. Put together, "kaolinize" describes the process by which rock feldspar and similar minerals break down and turn into kaolin. Geologists use the verb for this weathering, and potters and ceramicists sometimes use it for treating materials so they become clay-like. The ending "-izing" simply carries that process forward in time, so the word describes an action still in progress.