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.
"Ramanujan's motivation might have been very mathematical, but without his knowledge, he was also studying black holes, turbulence, percolation, all sorts of things."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 16, 2025
However, building on their earlier work, the team showed that fluids move through a pipe in a non-equilibrium phase transition, known as directed percolation, at the transition point between laminar and turbulent flow.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024
And this best cup of coffee occurs at what is known as the directed percolation transition.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024
How did your work open these new doors for mathematicians to solve problems related to percolation theory?
From Scientific American ● Sep. 25, 2023
Turning the pot upside down the percolation takes place very slowly and no aroma is lost.
From All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
