distillation

American  

[dis-tl-ey-shuhn] / ˌdɪs tlˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the volatilization or evaporation and subsequent condensation of a liquid, as when water is boiled in a retort and the steam is condensed in a cool receiver.

2. the purification or concentration of a substance, the obtaining of the essence or volatile properties contained in it, or the separation of one substance from another, by such a process.

3. a product of distilling; distillate.

4. the act or fact of distilling or the state of being distilled.

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distillation British  

/ ˌdɪstɪˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, or product of distilling

2. the process of evaporating or boiling a liquid and condensing its vapour

3. purification or separation of mixture by using different evaporation rates or boiling points of their components See also fractional distillation

4. the process of obtaining the essence or an extract of a substance, usually by heating it in a solvent

5. another name for distillate

6. a concentrated essence

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distillation Scientific  

/ dĭs′tə-lā′shən /

1. A method of separating a substance that is in solution from its solvent or of separating a liquid from a mixture of liquids having different boiling points. The liquid to be separated is evaporated (as by boiling), and its vapor is then collected after it condenses. Distillation is used to separate fresh water from a salt solution and gasoline from petroleum.

2. ◆ The condensed vapor, which is the purified liquid, is called the distillate.

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distillation Cultural  

1. In chemistry, the separating of the constituents of a liquid by boiling it and then condensing the vapor that results. Distillation can be used to purify water or other substances, or to remove one component from a complex mixture, as when gasoline is distilled from crude oil or alcohol from a mash. When water is purified by distillation, it is boiled in a container, and the steam is sent into cooling tubes. The steam is condensed and then collected as purified water in a second container. The impurities in the water are left behind in the first container and can be discarded.

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Discover More

Figuratively, “distillation” is the process of retaining the essential features or components of something while removing nonessentials: “This book represents knowledge distilled from decades of research.”

Other Word Forms

• distillative adjective
• distillatory adjective
• nondistillation noun
• redistillation noun

Etymology

Origin of distillation

1350–1400; Middle English distillacioun (< Anglo-French ) < Latin distillātiōn- (stem of distillātiō ), equivalent to distillāt ( us ) distillate + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

When you heat water into steam that then is converted back into water, you are putting it through a process of distillation: purification by boiling and condensing vapors. Distillation is a process of purification. Air and water are distilled to make them cleaner. Crude oil is distilled so that it can be used for various commercial purposes. Distillation involves a process of first heating to create vapor and then cooling to convert that vapor back to liquid form. Distillation is also the simplification of an argument to its most clear state. The distillation of an argument involves boiling it down so it's easy to understand.

Example Sentences

Rival U.S. firms are sharing information to detect so-called adversarial distillation attempts that violate their terms of service.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Anthropic itself has used distillation to create its smaller, faster models such as Claude 3 Haiku and Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026

The top U.S. models are still noticeably better than Chinese ones despite the occurrence of distillation, and have access to much more resources, he said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026

Earlier this month, an Anthropic rival, OpenAI, sent a memo to House lawmakers accusing DeepSeek of using the same tactic, called distillation, to mimic OpenAI’s products.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

All she felt was the approach, the closing-in, the dread, the dread that was as pure a distillation of fear as any emotion Isagol had ever made.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• purification