What does liquefy mean?
Liquefy means to turn into a liquid or to become liquid. It can refer to a substance melting, dissolving, or entering a liquid state under pressure, reduced temperature, or other conditions. The word is especially common in technical discussions of chemistry, refrigeration, and the storage or transport of gases, including liquefied natural gas. In everyday use, it may describe frost melting or another solid becoming fluid. Liquefy can be used transitively, as in “to liquefy a gas,” or intransitively, as in “the mixture liquefied.” Its appearance in both formal and general contexts makes it more descriptive and precise than saying simply that something “turned into a liquid.”
To make a substance liquid, or to cause it to enter a liquid state.
"Pressure and cooling allow the natural gas to liquefy for transport."
Often used technically of gases and other substances undergoing a change of state.
To become liquid; to melt or enter a liquid state.
"The heated substance gradually liquefied in the container."
This intransitive use is common in descriptions of melting, thawing, and phase changes.
A gas can be squeezed into a liquid without becoming colder—an effect used to transport natural gas in specialized tankers.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does liquefy come from?
Liquefy comes through English from Latin liquefacere, a compound formed from liquidus, meaning “liquid,” and facere, meaning “to make.” The Latin verb was borrowed into English in the early 17th century in the sense of making a substance liquid. Its modern spelling reflects a later adjustment toward the established English form liquefy, while the alternative liquify also survives.
Related word forms
How liquefy is actually used
The word is formal and technical in contexts involving phase changes, but it is also used in general descriptions of melting or dissolving. In the causative sense, it takes a direct object: to liquefy a substance. In the intransitive sense, a subject undergoes the change: the substance liquefies.
Easily confused with liquefy
Liquefy and liquify are variant spellings of the same verb, although liquefy is the more standard form.