What does vaporise mean?
Vaporise means to turn a liquid into vapour, usually through heating, though a liquid may also vaporise naturally as it evaporates. The verb can be transitive, as in a chemical process that vaporises a solvent, or intransitive, describing a liquid that vaporises under heat or reduced pressure. In some technical contexts, vaporise also means to disperse a liquid as fine droplets in the air, as an atomiser does. The spelling is standard in British English; US English generally writes vaporize. Vaporise is useful where precision matters: evaporation names the familiar physical process, while vaporisation can emphasize conversion into the gaseous state, a phase change essential in distillation, power generation and laboratory work. The word is neither obscure nor strongly emotive, but it has a technical, precise character and should not be used to mean that a liquid is merely diluted or mixed with air.
verbTo convert a liquid into vapour, especially by heating, or to become vapour. In some contexts, it also means to disperse a liquid as a fine mist or cloud of droplets.
- To convert a liquid into vapour, especially by heating, or to become vapour.
- To disperse a liquid as a fine mist or cloud of airborne droplets.
"The heated solvent vaporises before entering the condenser."
"The heated solvent vaporises before entering the condenser."
"The morning sun vaporised the puddles on the pavement."
Water becomes steam; vaporise is the verb for that phase change.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vaporise come from?
Vaporise derives from Medieval Latin vaporizare, formed from Latin vapor, meaning “steam” or “watery exhalation,” together with the suffix -izare. The English word developed during the early modern period and became particularly associated with scientific descriptions of changes of state. Its relatives include vapour, vaporous, evaporate and evaporative, all of which reflect the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How vaporise is actually used
The verb may be used transitively or intransitively. It has a neutral to technical character and is especially common in scientific, industrial and educational contexts.
Easily confused with vaporise
Vaporise focuses on the result—a substance becomes vapour—whereas evaporate more often describes the natural process by which a liquid changes into vapour.