emulsify

American  

[ih-muhl-suh-fahy] / ɪˈmʌl səˌfaɪ /

verb (used with or without object)

• emulsifies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• emulsified,
  past participle,  past
• emulsifying
  present participle

1. to make into or form an emulsion.

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emulsify British  

/ ɪˈmʌlsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to make or form into an emulsion

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Usage

What does emulsify mean? To emulsify is to form an emulsion—a mixture of two liquids that don’t fully combine. An emulsion may look like a single liquid, but it’s made up of particles of one liquid distributed throughout another liquid. For example, if you emulsify oil and water, it forms an emulsion in which small droplets of oil are suspended in the water, but the two liquids aren’t fully blended together (as they would be if you stirred together water and vinegar, for example). In technical chemistry terms, an emulsion is a colloidal suspension in which the substances mixed together are both liquids. Both colloids and suspensions involve particles of one substance distributed in another without being dissolved. Emulsions are used in a variety of contexts, including pharmacology, cooking, and photography. In cooking, liquids or liquid-like ingredients are emulsified in order to make sauces with a smooth consistency. A common example of an emulsion is the kind of salad dressings called a vinaigrette, which is made by emulsifying oil and vinegar. Example: To emulsify oil and vinegar, you have to whisk very hard to separate the oil into tiny droplets, or else the two liquids will separate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• emulsibility
  noun
• emulsifiability
  noun
• emulsification
  noun
• emulsifier
  noun
• emulsible
  adjective
• emulsifiable
  adjective
• unemulsified
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• emulsifying
  present
• emulsified
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• emulsify
  simple
• emulsifies
  simple
• have emulsified
  perfect
• has emulsified
  perfect
• am emulsifying
  progressive
• are emulsifying
  progressive
• is emulsifying
  progressive
• have been emulsifying
  perfect progressive
• has been emulsifying
  perfect progressive

Past

• emulsified
  simple
• had emulsified
  perfect
• was emulsifying
  progressive
• were emulsifying
  progressive
• had been emulsifying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will emulsify
  simple
• will have emulsified
  perfect
• will be emulsifying
  progressive
• will have been emulsifying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of emulsify

First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin ēmuls(us) ( see emulsion) + -ify

Explanation

When you emulsify something, you mix it so thoroughly that it becomes an emulsion, or a mixture of two liquids that can't be completely blended together. Home cooks emulsify any time they make a good oil-based salad dressing, thoroughly mixing the oil with the vinegar or other liquid ingredients. While the oil, because it's not soluble, can't be completely combined with the vinegar, you can emulsify the two so that the tiny drops of oil are dispersed across the volume of vinegar and the texture of the salad dressing is satisfying. Emulsify comes from the Latin word emulsus, or "milked out."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

emulsify emulsifies emulsified emulsifying

When using these components, food manufacturers need to emulsify, or mix them, together.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024

The therapy is a diglyceride formulation -- two omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, bound to a glyceride molecule -- which enhances their ability to emulsify into tiny, concentrated particles.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024

Mustard adds to a vinaigrette in two ways: It adds heat, flavor and dimension, and it helps emulsify or thicken the dressing.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2023

Butter can be tricky to smoothly emulsify into a sauce; it helps to start with cold butter and shake the skillet back and forth as it melts, rather than stir the butter into the sauce.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2023

Weigh out agar powder, 20 grammes, and emulsify it with 250 c.c. of the cold serum water.

From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by J. W. H. (John William Henry) Eyre

It blends and emulsifies perfectly — and its flavor is insurmountable.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2022

The mixture will split at first, but keep on whisking until it emulsifies.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2021

Did you know molasses emulsifies the olive oil and keeps the little fat molecules from stumbling into each other, thus allowing the oil and vinegar to mix?

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 6, 2020

If you liked that album, there’s no reason you wouldn’t like this one, which also emulsifies carols and Christmas standards to the consistency of a smoothie.

From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2016

Combined with the bile, this juice acts upon the large drops of fat which pass from the stomach into the duodenum and emulsifies them.

From A Practical Physiology by Albert F. Blaisdell

Even a simple vinaigrette could become something a little more luxe, fully emulsified.

From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026

The team says that result confirmed the hypothesis that VFD processing could be a "green" one-step technique for more stable, emulsified viscous liquids.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024

The brick-red butter sauce, emulsified with a splash of the pasta cooking water, coats spaghetti here, but you can use whatever noodles you like.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2023

With the motor running on low, if your processor allows, slowly add the olive oil and process until smooth and emulsified.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023

If the dressing is thin and curdled, the oil has been added too quickly, i.e. it has not been emulsified.

From School and Home Cooking by Carlotta Cherryholmes Greer

That’s true if you’re emulsifying the sauce by using pasta water, tossing the pasta in the sauce and adding cheese and other fats to help it cling.

From Washington Post ● May 9, 2022

Or it may contain additives such as “flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents”.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020

For the stubborn Tray, adapting to this new paradigm in order to achieve his dreams is about as easy as emulsifying oil and water.

From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2019

Milk is an emulsion of butterfat in water, with the protein casein serving as the emulsifying agent.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

This is due to their property of "emulsifying;" that is, they are held in suspension, in a finely divided state, in water.

From A Treatise on Physiology and Hygiene For Educational Institutions and General Readers by Joseph Chrisman Hutchison