Dilute
/dɪˈluːt/noun
To make a liquid or substance thinner or weaker by adding another substance.
Did you know?Dilute comes from Latin *diluere*, meaning “to wash away,” built from *dis-* (“apart”) + *luere* (“to wash”), so the word originally carried the image of something being rinsed, weakened, and dispersed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leu-
“to wash, rinse, or cleanse”
Latin
Latin
luere
“to wash, wash away, or pay a penalty”
Classical Latin
Latin
diluere
“to wash away, dissolve, or weaken by washing”
Late Latin
Latin
dilutus
“washed away; diluted, thin, weak”
14th Century
English
diluten
“to make thinner or weaker by mixing with water or another liquid”
Modern English
English
dilute
“to make a substance less concentrated or less strong”