percolation

[pur-kuh-ley-shuh n]

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noun

the act or state of percolating or of being percolated.

Pharmacology. the extraction of the soluble principles of a crude drug by the passage of a suitable liquid through it.

Geology. the slow movement of water through the pores in soil or permeable rock.

Nearby words

Origin of percolation

First recorded in 1605–15, percolation is from the Latin word percōlātiōn- (stem of percōlātiō). See percolate, -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for percolation

Castro would slide from view for weeks or months until the percolation of rumors roared to a fierce bubbling.
The Day Castro Wept|A. L. Bardach|September 17, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The method of percolation is now preferred by all who have made sufficient trial of it to apply it correctly.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
Water exists in the interior in immense masses, and that not solely in consequence of percolation from the surface.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1899|Various
Liquids find their way through the intestines by a system of percolation, and do not excite peristaltic movements.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh

He had the serranos burn whole trees and from the ashes, by percolation through water, produce a leaching of lye.
The Wolf Cub|Patrick Casey
This wadi, which is some 63 m. long, obtains water by percolation from the Nile.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6|Various

Word Origin and History for percolation

1610s, from Latin percolationem (nominative percolatio), noun of action from past participle stem of percolare "to strain through, filter," from per- "through" (see per) + colare "to strain," from colum "a strainer" (see colander).