disproportionation

[dis-pruh-pawr-shuh-ney-shuh n, -pohr-]

noun Chemistry.

the simultaneous oxidation and reduction of a substance reacting with itself, thereby forming two dissimilar molecules, as 2C2H4→C2H6+C2H2.

Origin of disproportionation

First recorded in 1925–30; disproportion + -ation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for disproportionation

disproportionation

noun

a reaction between two identical molecules in which one is reduced and the other oxidized

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012