Trimerizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Combining three identical or similar molecules into a single larger molecule, the process by which a trimer is formed
2. Linking three monomer units together to create one compound made of three repeating parts
3. Joining three smaller molecules into one structure, typically through chemical bonding that produces a trimer

Etymology: Trimerizing is the present participle of "trimerize", which is built from "trimer" plus the suffix "-ize". The suffix comes from Ancient Greek "-ῐ́ζω" (-ĭ́zō), which passed through Late Latin "-izō" and Middle French "-iser" before reaching Middle English "-isen" and the modern English "-ize". So the ending carries a verb-making tradition that runs back to Greek, even though the suffix itself is only a small piece of the word. The root "trimer" is the part that does the chemical work. It combines "tri-", meaning three, with the Greek-derived "-mer", meaning part or unit, so a trimer is a molecule made of three identical units joined together. To trimerize is to convert smaller molecules into such a three-unit structure, and trimerizing is the process of doing so.