distil means to exude (a liquid) in small drops; also, to give off (a vapour) which condenses in small drops. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
distil is pronounced /dɪˈstɪl/.
Why “distil” is a great word
DISTIL — [Verb] To purify a liquid or extract its essence by heating it to produce a vapor and then cooling the vapor to condense it back into a liquid. From Late Middle English *distillen*, from Old French *distiller* and directly from Latin *distīllāre*, a variant of *dēstīllāre* ("to drip down, distil"), from *dē-* ("down") + *stīllāre* ("to drip"), from *stīlla* ("a drop"). First attested in the late 14th century. Unlike "purify," a general term for removing impurities, or "analyze," which focuses on examining constituent parts, to distil is to pursue essence through a specific alchemy of vapor and condensation. It is the slow drip of single-malt whiskey from a copper coil, the captured scent of roses in a vial of attar, and the patient reduction of a complex argument to a single, potent axiom—the quiet art of leaving almost everything behind to capture the one thing that matters.
Etymology
From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil; to condense or vaporize; (figuratively) to give (good fortune) to; to say (slanderous words)”) [and other forms], from Old French distiller (modern French distiller (“to distil”)), and from its etymon Latin distīllāre, a variant of Latin dēstīllāre, the present active infinitive of dēstīllō (“to drip or trickle down; to distil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down, down from, down to’) + stīllō (“to drip, drop, trickle; to distil”) (from stīlla (“drop of liquid; (figuratively) small quantity”), probably a diminutive of stīria (“ice drop; icicle”)).
Cogna
verb
- To exude (a liquid) in small drops; also, to give off (a vapour) which condenses in small drops.“Firs distil resin.”
- To impart (information, etc.) in small quantities; to infuse.“But of all other men our Solomon could leaſt be ignorant of this truth. Not only for that reaſon, becauſe God had filled his heart with a large meaſure of wiſdom beyond other men: but even for this reaſon alſo: that being born of wiſe and godly Parents, and born to a Kingdom too, […] he had this truth (conſidering the great uſefulneſs of it to him in the whole time of his future Government) early ”
- To heat (a substance, usually a liquid) so that a vapour is produced, and then to cool the vapour so that it condenses back into a liquid, either to purify the original substance or to obtain one of its components; to subject to distillation.“Haue I not bene
Thy Pupill long? Haſt thou not learn'd me how
To make Perfumes? Diſtill? Preſerue?”
- Followed by off or out: to expel (a volatile substance) from something by distillation.
- To extract the essence of (something) by, or as if by, distillation; to concentrate, to purify.“But earthlyer happy is the roſe diſtild,
Then that, which, withering on the virgin thorne,
Growes, liues, and dies, in ſingle bleſſedneſſe.”
- To transform a thing (into something else) by distillation.“Ile grow to your embraces, till two ſoules
Diſtilled into kiſſes, through our lips
Doe make one ſpirit of love.”