mineralize

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to convert a substance into mineral or inorganic form, as in fossilization, bone formation, or carbon storage

   Groundwater can mineralize buried wood by gradually replacing its organic material.

2. 2
   verb

   to impregnate, enrich, or supply something with minerals

   The spring naturally mineralizes the water as it passes through limestone.

3. 3
   verb

   of a metal, to combine with another substance and occur as an ore rather than in a native state; historical and scientific

   Sulfur can mineralize silver, leaving the metal bound in an ore that must be processed.

Formed from mineral + -ize. Mineral came through Middle English and Medieval Latin mineralis, from minera, 'mine or ore.' The earliest English sense concerned turning a metal into ore; later uses broadened to mineral deposition in fossils, tissues, water, and other materials.

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