inspissate means to thicken a fluid, in the sense of making it more viscous, especially by boiling, evaporation, or condensation; to condense. It carries an Arena rating of 1661, earned across 55 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, inspissate ranks #276 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #281 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,143 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,286 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
inspissate is pronounced /ɪnˈspɪ.seɪt/.
Why “inspissate” is a great word
INSPISSATE — [Verb] To thicken a fluid, especially by evaporation or boiling, thereby increasing its viscosity. From Late Latin inspissātus, past participle of inspissāre ("to thicken"), from Latin in- ("in, into") + spissus ("thick, dense"). First attested in English in the 1620s. Unlike "condense," which concerns vapor becoming liquid or text becoming concise, or "coagulate," which implies a chemical curdling into solidity, to inspissate is the patient cultivation of density within a liquid medium. It is the syrup darkening on the stove, the slow reduction of stock into a glossy demi-glace, or the sun-thickened drip of sap into tar—a deliberate retreat from flow, a quiet testament to how time can concentrate what once was fluid.
Etymology
Formed from Late Latin inspissātus (“thickened, having been made thick or thicker”), the perfect passive participle of inspissāre (“to thicken”).
verb
- To thicken a fluid, in the sense of making it more viscous, especially by boiling, evaporation, or condensation; to condense.e.g.“Inspissate at 85°C (moist heat) for 45 min.” — 2004, Ronald M. Atlas, Handbook of Microbiological Media, page 937:
- Of a fluid: to become more viscous.e.g.“Instead of allowing the juice after the incision to inspissate on the capsule, he collected it immediately, and dried it by artificial heat.” — 1858, George Bacon Wood, Franklin Bache, The dispensatory of the United States of America, page 551:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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