Sparge

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /spɑɹd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. To introduce a fluid or gas into a solution to ensure thorough mixing
2. To scatter liquid droplets over a surface ; to push gas through a liquid to aid mixing or purification
3. To lightly spray a substance with water or another liquid ; to pass a gas through a liquid to help blend or cleanse it

Etymology: Brewers and cooks know "sparge" as the act of rinsing grain with hot water, but the verb's core sense is simply to sprinkle a liquid over something. It arrived in English by way of Middle French "espargier", which itself came from Latin "spargere", meaning to scatter or strew. That Latin root is the same one behind the English adjective "sparse", describing things spread thinly apart, so the two words share a single idea of scattering. The Latin verb reaches back further still, to an ancient base meaning to scatter or to jerk, a sense that survives in the sprinkling motion. English thus took a word for spreading things about and narrowed it, over centuries, to the specific business of wetting something with a fine spray of liquid.

Synonyms: spray, irrigate, moisten