Phlogisticate
/ˈflɒdʒɪstɪkeɪt/noun
To impregnate or combine with phlogiston, the hypothetical substance once thought to be released during combustion.
Did you know?Phlogiston theory treated combustion as the release of a hidden fiery principle, until Lavoisier’s oxygen-based chemistry displaced it in the late eighteenth century.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰleg-
“To burn or blaze; a reconstructed root associated with fire and burning.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
φλέγειν (phlégein)
“To burn, blaze, or be on fire.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
φλογιστός (phlogistós)
“Burnt, inflammable, or capable of being burned.”
17th Century
New Latin
phlogiston
“The hypothetical principle of fire or combustion, coined in early modern chemical theory.”
18th Century
English
phlogistic
“Relating to phlogiston or to the phlogiston theory of combustion.”
18th Century
English
phlogisticate
“To impregnate with phlogiston; a rare technical verb formed from phlogistic.”
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