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:
Saponification of the Oil.—Considerable light is thrown on the composition of a fixed oil by ascertaining how much alkali is required to saponify it.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 by Various
To avoid this, the quantity of alkali required to saponify the myricine is first ascertained, and then that required to saturate the free cerotic acid.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 443, June 28, 1884 by Various
B. lye to saponify a given weight of tallow and 50 per cent. of 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.
But, to simplify the operation, he preferred to saponify the fat by lime.
From The Mysterious Island by White, Stephen W.
Benzine does not act like an alkali; it does not saponify the greasy body, but it dissolves it as water dissolves a salt, a gum or gelatine.
From Book Repair and Restoration by Buck, Mitchell
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.
The spent lye obtained from the glycerine changes in making soap varies greatly, the quality depending upon the stock saponified and the soap maker's care in handling the operation.
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.
This is saponified, and when the saponification is complete, "boiling-on-strength" is proceeded with.
From The Handbook of Soap Manufacture by Simmons, W. H.
To rapidly determine whether the color easily washes out of the tallow with lye, 100 cubic centimeters of tallow are saponified in an enameled or iron dish with 100 cubic centimeters of 21 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.
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
It was necessary to separate the glycerine from this fat by saponifying it.
From The Mysterious Island by White, Stephen W.
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.
In adding the silicate it is necessary to add additional lye to that required for saponifying the fats, about 20 per cent. of 36 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.
It was then necessary to separate the glycerine from the fat by saponifying it.
From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules
Thus, if we use caustic alkali as our saponifying agent for a fat or oil, we obtain the sodium or potassium salt of the higher fatty acids or soap and the alcohol, glycerine.
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.
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.
