mercerize

English

Alternative forms

• (UK) mercerise

Etymology

Mercer +‎ -ize, named after John Mercer of Great Harwood, Lancashire, who invented the process in the mid-19th century.

Verb

mercerize (third-person singular simple present mercerizes, present participle mercerizing, simple past and past participle mercerized)

1. (transitive) To treat (cotton fabric) with sodium hydroxide to make it more lustrous and accepting of dyes.

Derived terms

• mercerisation, mercerization

Translations

to treat cotton with NaOH

• Catalan: merceritzar (ca)
• Finnish: merseroida
• German: merzerisieren (de)
• Italian: mercerizzare
• Romanian: merceriza (ro)
• Spanish: mercerizar (es)