What does condensate mean?
Condensate is the liquid that results when a gas or vapour cools or is compressed enough to change state. The word belongs mostly to technical language: engineers speak of steam condensate draining back through pipes, oil and gas producers extract valuable natural-gas condensate from wells, and physicists study exotic Bose–Einstein condensates in which atoms collapse into a single quantum state at temperatures near absolute zero. Yet it also describes an ordinary phenomenon — the water that beads on a cold glass or drips from a windowpane is condensate. In chemistry, the term has a second sense, referring to the product of a condensation reaction in which two molecules combine. Closely related to 'condense' and 'condensation', condensate names the substance rather than the process, a distinction worth keeping in mind.
nounA liquid formed when a gas or vapour has been cooled or compressed into a condensed state; also, in chemistry, a substance produced by a condensation reaction.
- Liquid formed from a cooled or compressed gas or vapour.
- (Chemistry) A product of a condensation reaction between molecules.
"Water dripping from a cold window pane is the simplest kind of condensate."
"The air conditioner's drain line carried away several litres of condensate each day."
"In industrial steam systems, hot condensate is often recovered and returned to the boiler to save energy."
The plural appears chiefly in scientific contexts, especially when referring to different kinds of condensate or multiple products of condensation reactions.
"The refinery processes several light hydrocarbon condensates."
Cool a gas of atoms to nearly absolute zero and they merge into a single quantum blob — the Bose–Einstein condensate, sometimes called a fifth state of matter.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of condensate
Condensate comes from Latin 'condensare', meaning 'to make dense' — formed from 'con-' (together) plus 'densus' (thick, dense). The verb entered English via French and Late Latin around the late sixteenth century, with the noun form following shortly after as scientific usage developed. It shares its root with 'dense', 'condensation', and 'density'.
Related word forms
How condensate is actually used
Chiefly technical and scientific in register — common in engineering, HVAC, petrochemical, and physics contexts — though understandable in everyday use for water formed on cold surfaces. In British English the noun is pronounced with stress on the first syllable (/ˈkɒndənseɪt/), while the verb 'condense' carries its own separate pronunciation.
Easily confused with condensate
Condensate is the liquid substance itself, while condensation is the process by which it forms (though 'condensation' can also loosely mean the resulting droplets).