devitrify

[dee-vi-truh-fahy]

verb (used with object)

devitrified, devitrifying 

1. Chemistry.,  to deprive, wholly or partly, of vitreous character or properties.

verb (used without object)

devitrified, devitrifying 

1. Petrology.,  (of a volcanic rock or particle) to undergo a change in texture from glassy to crystalline.

devitrify

/ diːˈvɪtrɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to change from a vitreous state to a crystalline state

2. to lose or cause to lose the properties of a glass and become brittle and opaque

Other Word Forms

• devitrifiable adjective
• devitrification noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of devitrify¹

First recorded in 1825–35; de- + vitrify

Example Sentences

Poor glass, badly prepared window-glass, and glass which has been subjected to strain tend to devitrify on exposure to air, some of the ingredients separating in a crystalline form.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Good glass does not readily devitrify when held in the blow-pipe flame.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Bad soda-glass or that which has been kept for many years, tends to devitrify when worked.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Long-buried glassy lavas devitrify, or pass to a stony condition, under the unceasing action of underground waters; but their flow lines and perlitic and spherulitic structures remain to tell of their original state.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

If either of these precautions are neglected most glass will devitrify badly.

Read more on Project Gutenberg