carbonate

American  

[kahr-buh-neyt, -nit, kahr-buh-neyt] / ˈkɑr bəˌneɪt, -nɪt, ˈkɑr bəˌneɪt /

noun

1. a salt or ester of carbonic acid.

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verb (used with object)

carbonated, carbonating

1. to form into a carbonate.

2. to charge or impregnate with carbon dioxide.

   carbonated drinks.

3. to make sprightly; enliven.

carbonate British  

noun

1. a salt or ester of carbonic acid. Carbonate salts contain the divalent ion CO 3 ^2–

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verb

1. to form or turn into a carbonate

2. (tr) to treat with carbon dioxide or carbonic acid, as in the manufacture of soft drinks

carbonate Scientific  

/ kär′bə-nāt′ /

1. 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).

2. Any other compound containing the group CO ₃. Carbonates include minerals such as calcite and aragonite.

3. 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.

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1. To add carbon dioxide to a substance, such as a beverage.

Other Word Forms

• carbonator
  noun
• noncarbonate
  noun
• noncarbonated
  adjective
• semicarbonate
  adjective
• uncarbonated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of carbonate

1785–95; carbon(ic acid) + -ate ², later taken as -ate ¹

Example Sentences

But just dropping caviar into a dish doesn’t guarantee better taste, says Leith Steel, a restaurant consultant at Carbonate, a hospitality agency in Cincinnati.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

The four plants exist in a part of the forest known as the Carbonate Habitat Management Area because it exists in carbonate rich soil over ancient coral reefs.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2023

Together, they created the Carbonate Habitat Management Strategy in 2003.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2023

Carbonate usually breaks down quickly, but if these plant-microbe systems are grown in alkaline- and calcium-rich soils, the carbonate reacts with calcium to form stable deposits of calcium carbonate.

From Science Daily • Sep. 21, 2023

Silica 2·00 7·42 6·00 2·31 Peroxide of iron and alumina 0·45 0·76 1·57 2·00 Carbonate of lime 93·61 84·11 50·21 58·81 Carbonate of magnesia 1·62 7·45 41·22 36·41 Phosphate of lime 0·56 ...

From Elements of Agricultural Chemistry by Anderson, Thomas