emulsify

American  

[ih-muhl-suh-fahy] / ɪˈmʌl səˌfaɪ /

verb (used with or without object)

emulsified, emulsifying

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

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

Etymology

Origin of emulsify

First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin ēmuls(us) ( 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

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

According to Rick Rogers, author of “Tips Cooks Love,” “mustard can absorb about twice its weight in liquid, so as it soaks up the vinegar and oil, it helps emulsify these two very different ingredients.”

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

“The Good John Proctor” shares DNA with Monahon’s other plays, which thoroughly emulsify history and fiction to give voice to previously marginal figures or to connect historical events to our moment.

From New York Times • Feb. 23, 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 Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)