fermentation
[fur-men-tey-shuh n]
- the act or process of fermenting.
- a change brought about by a ferment, as yeast enzymes, which convert grape sugar into ethyl alcohol.
- agitation; excitement.
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Origin of fermentation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fermentation
Contemporary Examples
There is also more nitrogen in his varieties, and this contributes to a quick restart of fermentation after each filtration.
This year he came back to Portland for the Portland Fermentation Festival which I co-organize with friends annually.
We came up with fermentation; we came up with cooking with fire.
Sorghum juice can be extracted for fermentation and distillation without damaging the grain at the top of the stalk.
Historical Examples
During the fermentation, stir the matter from time to time, and press it down with the hand, that it may be perfectly soaked.
These made unleavened bread, and were foes to the death to fermentation.
Essays, Second SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
The second stage is the preparation of the grapes for fermentation.
Manual of American Grape-GrowingU. P. Hedrick
Again, I spoke of the produce of fermentation as "spirit of wine."
YeastThomas H. Huxley
Love is perhaps a fermentation of the molecules of the imagination.
The Paliser caseEdgar Saltus
fermentation
- a chemical reaction in which a ferment causes an organic molecule to split into simpler substances, esp the anaerobic conversion of sugar to ethyl alcohol by yeastAlso called: ferment Related adjective: zymotic
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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
Word Origin and History for fermentation
n.
late 14c., in alchemy, with a broad sense; modern scientific sense is from c.1600; from Late Latin fermentationem (nominative fermentatio), noun of action from fermentare (see ferment (v.)). Figurative use attested from 1650s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fermentation
(fûr′mən-tā′shən, -mĕn-)- Any of a group of chemical reactions that split complex organic compounds into relatively simple substances, especially the anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol by yeast.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
fermentation
[fûr′mĕn-tā′shən]
- The process by which complex organic compounds, such as glucose, are broken down by the action of enzymes into simpler compounds without the use of oxygen. Fermentation results in the production of energy in the form of two ATP molecules, and produces less energy than the aerobic process of cellular respiration. The other end products of fermentation differ depending on the organism. In many bacteria, fungi, protists, and animals cells (notably muscle cells in the body), fermentation produces lactic acid and lactate, carbon dioxide, and water. In yeast and most plant cells, fermentation produces ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and water.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
fermentation
A chemical reaction in which sugars are broken down into smaller molecules that can be used in living systems. Alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, and whiskey, are made from the controlled use of fermentation. Fermentation is an anaerobic process.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.