Rarefaction

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A reduction in the density of a material, especially that of a fluid. countable, uncountable

    "[T]his ſeal'd vial, being broken under water, ſuck'd in a conſiderable quantity of it, whether, becauſe of ſome little rarefaction of the Air included in the ſealing, or becauſe of the infrigidation of that Air by the ſnow, or for both theſe Reaſons, or any other, I ſhall not Now diſpute."

  2. 2
    a decrease in the density of something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
thinning

Example

More examples

"[T]his ſeal'd vial, being broken under water, ſuck'd in a conſiderable quantity of it, whether, becauſe of ſome little rarefaction of the Air included in the ſealing, or becauſe of the infrigidation of that Air by the ſnow, or for both theſe Reaſons, or any other, I ſhall not Now diſpute."

Etymology

From Middle French raréfaction. By surface analysis, rarefy + -faction.

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