distill
di-STILL
/dɪˈstɪl/
To purify a liquid by heating it to a vapor and then condensing it back into a liquid.
In a culinary sense, it creates high-proof spirits; in a literary sense, it means to extract the most essential part of an idea.
The story behind the word. From the Latin 'de-' (down) and 'stillare' (to drip), referring to the way the purified liquid drips from the cooling coil of a still.
Word relationships
- extract: To pull something out, but not necessarily through evaporation.
- refine: To make pure, often through various methods including filtering.
- dilute: To make a liquid weaker by adding more solvent.
- adulterate: To make impure by adding inferior substances.
Commonly confused with
- instill: Instill means to gradually introduce an idea or feeling into someone's mind.
Word family
- distillation (noun): The act or process of distilling.
- distillery (noun): A place where spirits are manufactured.
Collocations
- distill spirits
- distill the essence
- triple distilled
Example sentences
- "The monks began to distill the fermented cider into a potent brandy." The production of spirits.
- "The editor managed to distill the author's rambling 500-page manuscript into a concise 20-page summary." Extracting the essence of a complex topic.
Memory hook
Imagine the liquid 'still' dripping 'down' (di) into the bottle. Drip-still: Purifying drop by drop.
When not to use
Do not use for simple filtering; distillation requires a phase change from liquid to gas.
Fun facts
- The oldest known evidence of distillation comes from a terracotta apparatus found in Pakistan, dating back to 3000 BC.
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