carbonate
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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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
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.
Before CREW, using calcium carbonate wasn’t an option, Bott said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices rebounded to $23,050 per metric ton, up from $8,475 in June 2025.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have rebounded from a recent trough, trading around $23,050 a metric ton, according to Dow Jones Market Data, citing Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
The Rincon project in Salta Province targets 60,000 tons a year of battery-grade lithium carbonate capacity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
One day it’s a cluster of rare magnesium hydroxy carbonate; the next it’s a star sapphire that will set a man’s hand on fire if he touches it.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
