Salinise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To treat or process with salt for preservation or flavor enhancement
2. To increase the salt concentration in a solution or substance for various purposes
3. To create a saline environment by adding salt, often to affect biological or chemical properties

Etymology: "Salinise" is simply the British spelling of "salinize," and the word is a plain formation: "saline" with the verb-forming suffix "-ize." The suffix has a long road into English. It began in ancient Greek as "-izein," which turned into Late Latin "-izare," passed into Middle French as "-iser," and reached Middle English as "-isen." English later settled on the "-ize" spelling, which is why American and British editions now differ. The base, "saline," comes from the Latin "salinus," meaning "of salt," from "sal," salt. Adding "-ise" to it produces a verb meaning to make something salty or to load it with salt. The word is a technical coinage in its modern sense, so its use in soil science, agriculture and water chemistry describes a concrete action: raising the salt content of a material until its biological or chemical behaviour changes.

Synonyms: salt, salinate, saltify

Antonyms: desalinize, desalt, freshen