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Origin and history of liquefy

liquefy(v.)

early 15c., transitive, "to turn to liquid, dissolve, melt," from Old French liquefier "liquefy, dissolve" (12c., Modern French liquéfier), from Latin liquefacere "make liquid, melt, dissolve," from liquere "be fluid" (see liquid (adj.)) + facere "to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to liquefy

liquid(adj.)

late 14c., "flowing, capable of flowing; neither solid nor gaseous," from Old French liquide "liquid, running" (13c.), from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist," figuratively "flowing, continuing," also of sounds and voices, from liquere "be fluid," related to liqui "to melt, flow," from PIE *wleik- "to flow, run."

In English, of sounds from 1630s. Financial sense of "capable of being converted to cash" is first recorded 1818, from earlier use in Scots Law (17c.) in reference to debts that had been proved (in court, etc.).

liquefaction(n.)

early 15c., "act or process of becoming liquid," from French liquéfaction, from Late Latin liquefactionem (nominative liquefactio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin liquefacere "to make liquid, melt" (see liquefy). Formerly also used in a metaphysical sense, of the melting of the soul in the ardor of devotion. Related: Liquefacient.

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.
[Robert Herrick (1591-1647)]
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flux
late 14c., "abnormally copious flow," from Old French flus "a flowing, a rolling; a bleeding" (Modern French flux), or directly from Latin fluxus (adj.) "flowing, loose, slack," past participle of fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Originally "excessive flow" (of blood or excrement),
dissolve
late 14c. dissolven, "to break up, disunite, separate into parts" (transitive, of material substances), also "to liquefy...General sense of "to melt, liquefy by means of heat or moisture" is from late 14c....
smelt
(implied in smelter "one who smelts ore"), from Dutch or Middle Low German smelten "to fuse, smelt, liquefy," from Proto-Germanic...
change
c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
modify
late 14c., modifien, "alter, amend, adjust, change the properties, form, or function of;" also "set limits, keep within the bounds of reason; choose a middle course," from Old French modifier (14c.), from Latin modificare "to limit, measure off, restrain," from modus "measure, ma
melt
Middle English melten, from Old English meltan (intransitive) "become liquid through heat" (class III strong verb; past tense mealt, past participle molten), from Proto-Germanic *meltanan; fused with Old English gemæltan (Anglian), gemyltan (West Saxon) "make liquid, reduce from
distill
also distil, late 14c., distillen, "to let fall in drops" (transitive); early 15c., "to drop, trickle, drip, fall in drops" (intransitive), from Old French distiller (14c.), from Latin distillare "trickle down in minute drops," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + stillare "to drip, dr
condense
early 15c., "thicken, make more dense or compact" (implied in condensed), from Old French condenser (14c.) or directly from Latin condensare "to make dense," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + densare "make thick," from densus "dense, th
what
Old English hwæt, referring to things in abstraction; also "why, wherefore; indeed, surely, truly," from Proto-Germanic pronoun *hwat (source also of Old Saxon hwat, Old Norse hvat, Danish hvad, Old Frisian hwet, Dutch wat, Old High German hwaz, German was, Gothic hva "what"), fr
thaw
Old English þawian (transitive), from Proto-Germanic *thawon- (source also of Old Norse þeyja, Middle Low German doien, Dutch dooien, Old High German douwen, German tauen "to thaw"), according to Watkins, from PIE root *tā- "to melt, dissolve" (source also of Sanskrit toyam "wate

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