Calcine

//ˈkælsaɪn// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something calcined; also, material left over after burning or roasting.
Verb
  1. 1
    To heat (a substance) to remove its impurities and refine it. historical, transitive
  2. 2
    heat a substance so that it oxidizes or reduces wordnet
  3. 3
    To heat (a substance) without melting in order to drive off water, etc., and to oxidize or reduce it; specifically, to decompose (carbonates) into oxides, and, especially, to heat (limestone) to form quicklime. physical, transitive

    "Fire […] burneth and calcineth ſtone, vvhereof is made that morter vvhich bindeth all vvork in maſonry."

  4. 4
    To heat (something) to dry and sterilize it. broadly, transitive
  5. 5
    To purify or refine (something). figuratively, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To burn up (something) completely; to incinerate; hence, to destroy (something). figuratively, transitive

    "[A]s his death calcined thee to duſt, / His life may make thee gold, and much more juſt."

  2. 7
    Of a substance: to undergo heating so as to oxidize it. intransitive, physical

    "This Cryſtal is a pellucid fiſſile Stone, clear as Water or Cryſtal of the Rock, and without Colour; enduring a red Heat without loſing its tranſparency, and in a very ſtrong Heat calcining without Fuſion."

Synonyms

All synonyms
calcinatecalcinizechark

Example

More examples

"Fire […] burneth and calcineth ſtone, vvhereof is made that morter vvhich bindeth all vvork in maſonry."

Etymology

The verb is derived from Late Middle English calcinen (“(alchemy, medicine) to heat (something) until it turns to powder; to change the nature of (something) by heating”) [and other forms], from Old French calciner (modern French calciner (“to calcinate; to calcine”)) and from its etymon Medieval Latin calcināre (“(alchemy) to burn like lime; to reduce to calx”), from Late Latin calcīna (“inorganic material containing calcium, lime”) + -āre (suffix forming present active infinitive forms of verbs). Calcīna is derived from Latin calcis, the genitive singular of calx (“chalk; limestone”), possibly from Ancient Greek χᾰ́λῐξ (khắlĭx, “small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble”); further etymology unknown, possibly Pre-Greek. The noun is derived from the verb.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.