Vulcanized

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. A process that chemically alters rubber through heat and sulfur to improve its flexibility and toughness
2. An alteration technique for rubber that enhances its durability and elasticity via chemical bonding with heat and sulfur
3. A method involving the treatment of rubber with heat and sulfur to enhance its strength and resilience

Etymology: Vulcanization is named for Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking, whose name the English language borrowed through Old English and Middle English before it became the root of a modern industrial verb. The word did not describe rubber at first. "Vulcanize" was formed in English by adding the suffix "-ize", which turns a noun into a verb meaning to treat or subject something to a process, to "Vulcan," so the sense was roughly "to subject to Vulcan's fire." The god's association with forging and heat made him a fitting name for a process that depends on heat. The process itself was developed by Charles Goodyear, who in the late 1830s discovered that heating raw rubber with sulfur made it stable and elastic instead of sticky and brittle. The name followed the idea of fire-working, so the verb carries the image of the blacksmith's forge into a chemical treatment that would later make rubber useful for tires and seals.

Synonyms: hardened, tempered, treated, processed, modified

Antonyms: softened, weakened, deteriorated, damaged, compromised