Pasteurisations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of heating a liquid to a specific temperature for a defined period to kill harmful microorganisms
2. A method often used for dairy products to enhance safety and prolong shelf life
3. The treatment aimed at sterilizing drinks or foods without altering their original flavor and quality

Etymology: "Pasteurisations" is the plural of "pasteurisation", the process of heating food or drink to destroy harmful microorganisms. The noun takes its name from Louis Pasteur, the French chemist whose experiments in the 1860s showed that heating wine and beer to moderate temperatures could kill the bacteria that spoiled them. The process was adopted into French as "pasteurisation" and from there came into English. The name is a memorial in the most literal sense: a person's surname became the label for a technique, and the verb "pasteurise" was formed from it in the same way. The plural form simply counts separate instances of the treatment, such as batches of milk or different applications of heat.