macerate

Meanings

1. To soften (something) or separate it into pieces by soaking it in a heated or unheated liquid.
2. To reduce solids to small pieces (in a macerator).
3. To make lean; to cause to waste away.
4. To subdue the appetite by poor or scanty diet; to mortify.
5. To mortify the flesh in general.
6. past participle of macerate

1. A macerated substance.

Etymology

First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.