saponify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to convert (a fat) into soap by treating with an alkali.
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to decompose (any ester), forming the corresponding alcohol and acid or salt.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which a fat is converted into a soap by treatment with alkali
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to undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which an ester is hydrolysed to an acid and an alcohol as a result of treatment with an alkali
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of saponify
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.
See Examples For:
I said: "Go and saponify, for I hate Calcutta."
From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard
When just enough alkali is used to completely saponify the amount of fat, the product is called a neutral, or mild, soap.
From Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management by Ontario. Ministry of Education
The quantity of potassic hydrate required to saponify one gramme or 15 grains of pure beeswax varies from 97 to 107 milligrammes.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 443, June 28, 1884 by Various
But, to simplify the operation, he preferred to saponify the fat by lime.
From The Mysterious Island by White, Stephen W.
But to simplify the operation, he preferred to saponify the fat by means of lime.
From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules
The red oil, sometimes called saponified red oil, is often semi-solid, resembling a soft tallow, due to the presence of stearic acid.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
Fatty acids are readily saponified with caustic soda or caustic potash of all strengths.
From The Handbook of Soap Manufacture by Simmons, W. H.
Chlorophyll b is dark green, is somewhat less soluble than the other form, and when saponified by potash gives a transient brilliant red.
From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred
In manufacturing these soaps the cocoanut oil is saponified in the crutcher with 38 degs.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
Margaric Acid is best obtained pure by boiling olive oil with an alkali until it is saponified, and decomposing the soap with an acid, expressing the margaric acid, which separates, and crystallising it from alcohol.
From Elements of Agricultural Chemistry by Anderson, Thomas
Saponification of the Oil.—Upon saponifying with alcoholic potash, it was found that 1,000 grammes of oil required 175.2 grammes of potash for complete saponification.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 by Various
Where the glycerine is obtained from spent lye by saponifying the fats or oils with caustic alkali.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
On gently saponifying the esters, these are converted into the corresponding hydroxy derivatives—
From Synthetic Tannins by Grasser, Georg
In saponifying a freshly stocked kettle it is apt to bunch.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
Glycerine is generally made on the large scale, on the one hand, by directly saponifying oil with the oxide of lead, or, on the other, from the "waste liquor" of soap manufacturers.
From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by Piesse, George William Septimus
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.
