carbonate
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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carbonates,
present (3rd person singular)
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carbonated,
past participle, past
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carbonating
present participle
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to form into a carbonate.
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to charge or impregnate with carbon dioxide.
carbonated drinks.
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to make sprightly; enliven.
noun
verb
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to form or turn into a carbonate
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(tr) to treat with carbon dioxide or carbonic acid, as in the manufacture of soft drinks
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A salt or ester of carbonic acid, containing the group CO 3. The reaction of carbonic acid with a metal results in a salt (such as sodium carbonate), and the reaction of carbonic acid with an organic compound results in an ester (such as diethyl carbonate).
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Any other compound containing the group CO 3. Carbonates include minerals such as calcite and aragonite.
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Sediment or a sedimentary rock formed by the precipitation of organic or inorganic carbon from an aqueous solution of carbonates of calcium, magnesium, or iron. Limestone is a carbonate rock.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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carbonatornoun
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noncarbonatenoun
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noncarbonatedadjective
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semicarbonateadjective
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uncarbonatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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carbonatesimple
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carbonatessimple
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have carbonatedperfect
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has carbonatedperfect
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am carbonatingprogressive
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are carbonatingprogressive
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is carbonatingprogressive
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have been carbonatingperfect progressive
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has been carbonatingperfect progressive
Past
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carbonatedsimple
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had carbonatedperfect
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was carbonatingprogressive
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were carbonatingprogressive
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had been carbonatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of carbonate
1785–95; carbon(ic acid) + -ate 2, later taken as -ate 1
Vocabulary lists containing carbonate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Analysis conducted after the reaction found that more than 75% of the carbon originally present in the plastic ended up in stable carbonate compounds or liquid organic residues.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
The world-renowned site features iron carbonate concretions that formed some 309 million years ago, fossilizing within them ancient creatures that had once thrived in the area's lush swamps, shallow seas and river deltas.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
"The ocean is especially rich in these partnerships, and the toadfish-vibrio symbiosis potentially linked to calcium carbonate production is a striking new example."
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
Before CREW, using calcium carbonate wasn’t an option, Bott said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
“Oh, stuff like magnesium salts, and alcohol for keeping the Deltas and Epsilons small and backward, and calcium carbonate for bones, and all that sort of thing.”
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
However, these minerals can form when carbonates are heated and destroyed in the presence of water vapor.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2023
The carbonates suggested changes in water content that fit the primitive composition, while the olivine is a product of thermal decomposition of phyllosilicates at extreme temperatures.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2023
Mars’s warmer, wetter past makes it the second-best place in the solar system to find carbonates.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 12, 2023
We capture carbon using a process called aqueous mineralization, where an alkaline solution is exposed to atmosphere, causing the formation of carbonates.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
A hotter surface would vaporize still more carbonates into CO,, and there would be the possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect to very high temperatures.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
As consumption of wine and spirits writ large has been in steady decline, sparkling wine has maintained, well, its sparkle—outperforming other categories with carbonated verve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
It's not the first time there has been a risk of carbonated drinks exploding.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
A brief analysis published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health concludes that carbonated water alone is not enough to drive meaningful weight loss.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2026
Even before the pandemic, bottled water had overtaken External link soda as the nation’s most popular beverage by volume after years External link of decline for carbonated soft drinks—a category where demand remains lumpy.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
I shined my flashlight into the hole and saw a half-chewed cheeseburger floating in brown carbonated muck.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
"So I think carbonating it and adding fruit flavour makes it more interesting. That's the real innovation."
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2025
He also recommended carbonating the blend and making something like a homemade yuzu soda — truly the perfect way to “Make it Fancy.”
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2024
However, according to NAS, fully carbonating these wastes could require building costly plants to speed the reactions.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 3, 2020
Or it may contain additives such as “flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents”.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
The most interesting among these is the "chilling" and "carbonating" system.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
