percolation
Americannoun
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the act or state of percolating or of being percolated.
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Pharmacology. the extraction of the soluble principles of a crude drug by the passage of a suitable liquid through it.
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Geology. the slow movement of water through the pores in soil or permeable rock.
Etymology
Origin of percolation
First recorded in 1605–15, percolation is from the Latin word percōlātiōn- (stem of percōlātiō ). See percolate, -ion
Explanation
Percolation is the process of a liquid slowly passing through a filter. It's how coffee is usually made. Percolation comes from the Latin word percolare, which means "to strain through." Percolation happens when liquid is strained through a filter, like when someone makes coffee. Drinking coffee can make you feel perky! Perky comes from the word percolate, too, describing something that bubbles over. Percolation (a noun) is what happens when anything percolates. It’s usually coffee, but chemists use percolation for all kinds of experiments.
Vocabulary lists containing percolation
The Water Cycle - Introductory
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Earth Science - Middle School
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The Water Cycle - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These connections appear in theoretical descriptions of percolation, fluid turbulence, and even certain features of black holes.
From Science Daily • Dec. 16, 2025
This miscibility allows for the formation of a nanoscale percolation network at the heterojunction interface, preventing the aggregation of Y6-PAs.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2024
This nanoscale percolation not only enhances charge generation efficiency but also significantly improves the stability of the polymer blend morphology, reducing the loss in device performance over time when exposed to solar illumination.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2024
Somewhere in between is a critical value, called the percolation threshold, at which the fluid begins to flow all the way across the network.
From Scientific American • Sep. 25, 2023
Water reddened by contact with bricks, water made turbid by percolation through paving-blocks, splashed continuously from hiccuping scuppers.
From Blow The Man Down A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 by Day, Holman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
