saturate
/ˈsæt͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.57 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cause to become completely permeated with, or soaked (especially with a liquid).
Transitive verb
verb
To satisfy the affinity of; to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold.
Transitive verb
noun
adj
Very intense.
Example Sentences
- "Rain saturated their clothes."
- "After walking home in the driving rain, his clothes were saturated."
- "Suppose, on the contrary, that a piece of charcoal saturated with hydrogen gas is put into a receiver filled with carbonic acid gas, […]"
- "Innumerable flocks and herds covered that vast expanse of emerald meadow, saturated with the moisture of the Atlantic."
- "Modern television is saturated with violence."
- "One can saturate phosphorus with chlorine."
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in the second part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English, the verb in 1538, the noun in 1921; inherited from Middle English saturat(e) (“satiated, satisfied”), borrowed from Latin saturātus, perfect passive participle of saturō (“to fill, satisfy, quench”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from satur (“full”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: saturat, saturātus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsæt͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
saturates (present, singular)
saturating (participle, present)
saturated (participle, past)
saturated (past)
saturates (plural)
more saturate (comparative)
most saturate (superlative)