Masticate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈmæstɪkeɪt/

Definitions

1. To chew food thoroughly, breaking it down into smaller pieces for easier digestion
2. actively grinding and breaking down substances with teeth, facilitating the digestive process
3. engaging in the process of chewing, which enhances the efficiency of swallowing and digestion

Etymology: The most striking thing about "masticate" is how closely it tracks a Greek verb that meant to grind the teeth. That Greek word, "mastikhaō," gave Latin "masticō," meaning to chew, and English took the Latin root and attached the familiar "-ate" ending that turns many Latin verbs into English ones. English may also have reached the word from the other direction. Its noun form, "mastication," could have come first, and "masticate" may have been carved out of it backwards, a process linguists call back-formation. Either way, the Latin and Greek roots point to the same grinding action. French offers a close relative in "mastiquer," which shares the same ancestry. The English verb keeps the physical, almost mechanical sense of the original: working food between the teeth until it is ready to swallow.

Synonyms: chew