Volatilization of a liquid by heat and subsequent condensation of the vapor; a means of separating the volatile from the nonvolatile, or the more volatile from the less volatile, part of a liquid mixture. [L. de-(di-)stillo, pp. -atus, to drop down]
- destructive d. SYN: dry d..
- dry d. submission of an organic substance to heat in a closed vessel so that oxygen is absent and combustion prevented, with the objective of effecting its decomposition with release of volatile constituents and the formation of new substances. SYN: destructive d..
- fractional d. d. of a compound liquid at varying degrees of heat whereby the components of different boiling points are collected separately.
- molecular d. d. in high vacuum, intended to make possible use of low temperatures to minimize damage to thermally labile molecules that would be decomposed by boiling at higher temperatures.
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dis·til·la·tion .dis-tə-'lā-shən n
1) a process that consists of driving gas or vapor from liquids or solids by heating and condensing to liquid products and that is used esp. for purification, fractionation, or the formation of new substances
2) something distilled
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dis·til·la·tion (dis″tĭ-laґshən) the process of vaporizing and condensing a substance to purify the substance or to separate a volatile substance from less volatile substances. Called also vaporization.Medical dictionary. 2011.