carbonize

especially British, car·bon·ise

[kahr-buh-nahyz]

verb (used with object)

carbonized, carbonizing 

1. to char (organic matter) until it forms carbon.

2. to coat or enrich with carbon.

verb (used without object)

carbonized, carbonizing 

1. to become carbonized.

carbonize

/ ˈkɑːbəˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to turn or be turned into carbon as a result of heating, fossilization, chemical treatment, etc

2. (tr) to enrich or coat (a substance) with carbon

3. (intr) to react or unite with carbon

Other Word Forms

• carbonizable adjective
• carbonizer noun
• uncarbonized adjective
• carbonization noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbonize¹

First recorded in 1800–10; carbon + -ize

Example Sentences

Later, she drives through a part of the forest that burned the year before to see “mile upon mile of carbonized trees and denuded earth, a now-familiar scene of extinguished life.”

From Los Angeles Times

It was the material residue of great trauma — whole lives consumed and carbonized.

From Los Angeles Times

None of these substances were found outside the skull, in the volcanic ash in which the carbonized, skeletal remains were buried.

From Salon

"The peculiar preservation of Tridentinosaurus had puzzled experts for decades. Now, it all makes sense. What it was described as carbonized skin, is just paint."

From Science Daily

Sophisticated testing takes place at the national forensics lab in Tel Aviv, where pathologists discovered that a blackened, carbonized lump of remains was that of a woman, clutching a child to her chest.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• burn