Ozonation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of infusing a chemical element known for its oxidizing properties into a substance to eliminate impurities
2. A technique employed to purify air or water by employing a triatomic form of oxygen to degrade pollutants
3. The procedure of applying ozone gas to a material or environment in order to purify or disinfect it

Etymology: Ozone itself was named in 1840 by the German chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein, who coined it from the Greek "ozein," meaning "to smell," for the sharp odour produced when electricity passes through air or water. The noun "ozonation" is simply "ozone" with the suffix "-ation," which turns a substance into the process of treating something with it, so the word describes exposing air or water to ozone. The suffix does the work here. Adding "-ation" to a name for a substance is a common pattern in English chemistry, producing nouns such as "chlorination" and "fluoridation." Because the word is built directly from "ozone" in this way, its meaning follows the chemistry of the gas itself: ozone is an unstable form of oxygen with three atoms per molecule, and its reactivity is what lets it break down contaminants.