saponify

English

Etymology

From French saponifier, from Late Latin sāpō, sāpōnem (“soap”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

saponify (third-person singular simple present saponifies, present participle saponifying, simple past and past participle saponified)

1. (transitive) To convert (a fat or oil) into soap.
2. (intransitive) To be converted into soap.
3. (transitive, chemistry) To hydrolyze (an ester) using an alkali.

Related terms

• saponification

Translations

to convert into soap

• Bulgarian: осапунвам (osapunvam)
• Galician: saponificar (gl)
• Ido: saponifar
• Italian: saponificare (it)
• Spanish: saponificar (es)
• Welsh: seboneiddio