Pasteurise

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈpæst͡ʃəɹaɪz/

Definitions

1. To heat a liquid to a specific temperature that eliminates harmful bacteria while maintaining its taste and nutritional quality
2. The process of heating a liquid to a precise degree to kill off pathogens, ensuring safety and quality for consumption
3. To treat a liquid by heating it to a controlled temperature to destroy harmful microorganisms without affecting flavor or nutritional value

Etymology: Louis Pasteur, the French chemist, spent much of the 1850s and 1860s investigating why wine and beer turned sour, and found that microbes were responsible. In 1862 he showed that gently heating liquids would kill most of these organisms without ruining the drink. The method was first applied to wine and then to milk, and it was named after him: "pasteuriser" in French, borrowed into English as "pasteurise." The word is a straightforward formation: the surname "Pasteur" with the suffix "-ise," which turns a noun into a verb meaning to subject something to a process or treatment. Other English verbs built this way include "Americanise" and "sterilise," so the term follows a familiar pattern for naming a technique after its inventor.

Synonyms: sterilize