macerate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.

Pronunciation

Verb

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæs.ə.ɹeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæs.ə.ɹɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

macerate (third-person singular simple present macerates, present participle macerating, simple past and past participle macerated)

2. To soften (something) or separate it into pieces by (or as if by) soaking it in a heated or unheated liquid.
4. To reduce solids to small pieces (in a macerator).

   Near-synonyms: comminute, crush, pulverize

5. (archaic) To make lean; to cause to waste away.
   • 2006, David Tibet; Michael Cashmore (lyrics and music), “The Dissolution Of The Boat ‘Millions Of Years’”, in Black Ships Ate the Sky, performed by Current 93:

     Baal scuttles with ten tails
     Between as many legs as he could carry—
     Perhaps Thomas poking through the holes
     And finding resolution beyond the scales
     And incorporeal pain of the hammered Messiah,
     Immaculately macerated God.

6. (obsolete) To subdue the appetite by poor or scanty diet; to mortify.
7. (obsolete) To mortify the flesh in general.
   • 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 243:

     “My dear child, how are you employed?” I knew the voice of the Superior, and I replied, “My father, I was sleeping.” “And I was macerating myself at the foot of the altar for you, my child,—the scourge is red with my blood.” I returned no answer, for I felt the maceration was better merited by the betrayer than the betrayed.

8. (obsolete) past participle of macerate [1541–1632]

Derived terms

• macerater
• macerative
• macerator
• unmacerated

Translations

to soften or separate by immersion in a liquid

• Bulgarian: накисвам (bg) (nakisvam)
• Dutch: weken (nl)
• Esperanto: maceri
• French: macérer (fr)
• Galician: macerar (gl)
• German: mazerieren
• Italian: macerare (it)
• Latin: mācerō
• Latvian: atmiekšķēt (lv)
• Polish: macerować (pl)
• Portuguese: macerar (pt)
• Russian: вымачивать (ru) (vymačivatʹ), размачивать (ru) (razmačivatʹ)
• Spanish: macerar (es)

to make lean, cause to waste away

• Latin: mācerō

to subdue the appetite by a poor diet

• Polish: umartwiać się (pl)
• Russian: изнуря́ть (ru) (iznurjátʹ)

See also

• masticate (not to be confused, despite shared themes of soaking, softening, and comminution)

Noun

macerate (plural macerates)

1. A macerated substance. [from 1941]

References

• “macerate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Notes:

Anagrams

• camerate, cream tea, racemate

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.t͡ʃeˈra.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: ma‧ce‧rà‧te

Etymology 1

Verb

macerate

1. inflection of macerare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

macerate f pl

1. feminine plural of macerato

Anagrams

• camerate

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [maː.kɛˈraː.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ma.t͡ʃeˈraː.te]

Participle

mācerāte

1. vocative masculine singular of mācerātus

Spanish

Verb

macerate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of macerar combined with te