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Origin and history of rarefaction

rarefaction(n.)

"act or process of making rare or expanding a body of matter (originally chiefly gases) so that a smaller number of particles occupy the same space," c. 1600, from French raréfaction or directly from Medieval Latin rarefactionem (nominative rarefactio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin rarefacere "make rare or thin" (see rarefy). Rarefication (1610s) also is used. Rarefactive is attested from early 15c.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to rarefaction

rarefy(v.)

late 14c., rarefien, "make thin, reduce the density of," from Old French rarefier (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin rarificare, from Latin rarefacere "make thin, make rare," from rarus "rare, thin" (see rare (adj.1)) + facere "to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Intransitive sense of "become less dense" is from 1650s. Related: Rarefied; rarefiable.

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    Trends of rarefaction

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    concentration
    1630s, "action of bringing to a center, act of collecting or combining into or about a central point," noun of action from concentrate (v.). Meaning "a mass so collected" is from 1670s; that of "voluntary continuous focusing of mental activity" is from 1825, in phrenology. Concen
    number
    c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take." The meaning "written symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. The meaning "singl
    epithet
    "descriptive name for a person or thing," 1570s, from French épithète or directly from Latin epitheton (source also of Spanish epíteto, Portuguese epitheto, Italian epiteto), from Greek epitheton "an epithet; something added," noun use of adjective (neuter of epithetos) "attribut
    atavism
    1833, in biology, "reversion by influence of heredity to ancestral characteristics, resemblance of a given organism to some remote ancestor, return to an early or original type," from French atavisme, attested by 1820s, said to have been coined by French botanist Antoine-Nicolas
    bat
    "a stick or staff used in beating, a war-club, staff used to strike the ball in certain games," c. 1200, from rare Old English batt "cudgel," a western England word at first, probably from Welsh or another Celtic source (compare Irish and Gaelic bat, bata "staff, cudgel"), later
    cipher
    late 14c., "arithmetical symbol for zero," from Old French cifre "nought, zero," Medieval Latin cifra, which, with Spanish and Italian cifra, ultimately is from Arabic sifr "zero," literally "empty, nothing," from safara "to be empty;" a loan-translation of Sanskrit sunya-s "empt
    aesthetic
    1798, from German Ästhetisch (mid-18c.) or French esthétique (which is from German), ultimately from Greek aisthetikos "of or for perception by the senses, perceptive," of things, "perceptible," from aisthanesthai "to perceive (by the senses or by the mind), to feel," from PIE *a
    hamburger
    1610s, Hamburger "native of Hamburg." Also used of ships from Hamburg. From 1838 as a type of excellent black grape indigenous to Tyrolia; 1857 as a variety of hen. The meat product was so called by 1880 (as hamburg steak); if it was named for the German city no certain connectio
    mantle
    Old English mentel "a loose, sleeveless garment worn as an outer covering, falling in straight lines from the shoulders," from Latin mantellum "cloak" (source of Italian mantello, Old High German mantal, German Mantel, Old Norse mötull), perhaps from a Celtic source, or, if the L
    onomatopoeia
    "formation of words or names by imitation of natural sounds; the naming of something by a reproduction of the sound made by it or a sound associated with it," 1570s, from Late Latin onomatopoeia, from Greek onomatopoiia "the making of a name or word" (in imitation of a sound asso

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