Oxydation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The chemical process of combining with oxygen, often producing a new compound ; the loss of electrons by an atom, ion or molecule during a reaction ; the gradual corrosion or rusting of a material exposed to air
2. A reaction in which a substance combines with oxygen to form an oxide ; the removal of electrons from a chemical species in a reaction ; the slow deterioration of metal when it is exposed to oxygen and moisture
3. Combination of a substance with oxygen, forming new compounds ; the process by which an atom or molecule gives up electrons ; the corrosion of metals and similar materials through contact with oxygen

Etymology: Oxydation is an older spelling of oxidation, and the surprise is in the chemistry behind the name. The word came into English from French "oxydation", built from "oxide" plus the suffix "-ation", which turns a verb-like base into a noun for the process of doing something. "Oxide" itself is the key: it names a compound of oxygen with another element, and the French term reflects the late eighteenth-century chemistry of Antoine Lavoisier and his colleagues, who named oxygen as the element that combines with substances to form acids and other compounds. The -y- spelling was the form chemists favoured for much of the nineteenth century, when "oxydize" and "oxydation" were standard in English scientific writing. Later the spelling was regularised to "oxidation" to match "oxide" and "oxidize", so the older form now looks archaic.