Oxygenators

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device or substance used to introduce or enrich oxygen into a liquid, typically utilized in medical or environmental applications
2. Instruments designed to facilitate the transfer of oxygen into a solution, often to support aquatic life or enhance blood oxygenation in medical scenarios
3. Equipment that enables the absorption or infusion of oxygen into fluids, serving crucial roles in various biological and ecological processes

Etymology: Oxygenators are named for the element they handle, and that name preserves an old mistake. The French chemist Antoine Lavoisier named oxygen from Greek "oxys", meaning sharp or acid, and "-genes", meaning producing, because he believed oxygen was the essential ingredient of all acids. That belief was wrong, but the name stuck. The ending "-ator" comes from Latin, where it formed nouns for an agent or device that performs an action. An oxygenator is therefore literally something that oxygenates. Its most familiar form is the membrane oxygenator in heart-lung machines, which adds oxygen to blood while bypassing the lungs during surgery.