Vaporating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Changing from a liquid or solid into a gas or mist, often through heat or evaporation
2. Transforming a substance into a fine cloud of vapor that drifts away into the air
3. Becoming a gaseous form of matter as a liquid or solid is heated or exposed to air

Etymology: "Vaporating" is the present participle of "vaporate," a verb borrowed from Latin "vaporare," meaning to emit steam or vapour, or to be emitted as vapour. The Latin verb is itself built on "vapor," the source of English "vapour," which is why the two words share a stem and sit so close in meaning. The core idea is simple: something that vaporates is turning into or giving off vapour. Because the Latin root applies to any gas or steam rising from a heated or moist substance, the English word keeps that physical sense rather than acquiring the abstract associations that "vapour" has picked up, such as idle talk or a vaporous, insubstantial notion.