What does decarbonation mean?
Decarbonation is the process by which carbon dioxide is removed from a material — most familiarly from liquids, where it explains why an opened bottle of sparkling water or soda gradually goes flat. The word belongs primarily to technical registers: food scientists discuss decarbonation when studying how beverages lose their fizz over time, while chemists and industrial engineers use it for a different but related phenomenon, the release of carbon dioxide when carbonates such as limestone are heated, as in lime production. It should not be confused with the far more prominent modern term decarbonization, which concerns cutting carbon emissions from economies and energy systems rather than removing CO2 from substances. Derived from 'carbon' via Latin carbo, meaning coal or charcoal, decarbonation remains a precise, specialist word valued for describing exactly what its parts suggest.
nounThe removal of carbon dioxide from a substance, especially a liquid such as water or a carbonated beverage. In industrial chemistry it also denotes the removal of carbon dioxide produced by the thermal decomposition of a carbonate.
- The loss or removal of dissolved carbon dioxide from a liquid, as when a carbonated drink goes flat or water is degassed.
- In chemistry and industry, the removal of carbon dioxide resulting from the decomposition of carbonates, as in the calcination of limestone.
"Once the bottle was opened, decarbonation began immediately and the soda quickly went flat."
"Careful sealing of the bottles prevents premature decarbonation during storage."
"At high temperatures the decarbonation of limestone releases carbon dioxide, yielding quicklime."
Rarely pluralized; the word usually appears as an uncountable mass noun referring to a process.
"Repeated decarbonations left the mineral sample visibly altered."
Every time your soda goes flat, you're watching decarbonation happen in real time — the same word chemists use for stripping CO2 out of limestone in a kiln.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of decarbonation
Decarbonation derives from 'carbon', borrowed into English from French carbone, which traces back to Latin carbo, meaning coal or charcoal. The prefix de- indicates removal, and the suffix -ation forms a noun of process, so the word literally means 'the act of removing carbon (dioxide)'. It emerged in scientific usage alongside related formations such as carbonate, carbonic acid, and decarbonize, all built on the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How decarbonation is actually used
A technical term used chiefly in food science, brewing, chemistry, and geology; rare in everyday speech, where speakers are more likely to say a drink has 'gone flat'. British spelling may appear as 'decarbonisation', but 'decarbonation' itself is spelled identically in both varieties.
Easily confused with decarbonation
Decarbonization refers to reducing carbon emissions from an economy or process (e.g. energy systems), whereas decarbonation is the physical or chemical removal of carbon dioxide from a substance.