diluentadj.n.
/ˈdɪl(j)uːənt/ A. adj.
1. Diluting; serving to attenuate or weaken the consistency of any fluid by the addition of water or the like; spec., in medicine, making thin the fluids of the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dilution > [adjective]
allayingOE
dilutive1620
diluent1731
diluting1732
1731 J. Arbuthnot Ess. Nature Aliments v. (R.) There is no real diluent but water; every fluid is diluent as it contains water in it.
1759 J. Johnstone in Philos. Trans. 1758 (Royal Soc.) 50 546 To drink plentifully of thin broths, and other soft diluent liquors.
1833 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 20 None of the washy, diluent effects of green vegetables.
1884 H. W. Beecher in Christian World Pulpit XXV. 234 As men mix strong wines with diluent water.
2. That has the property of dissolving; solvent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dissolving > [adjective]
resolutivea1400
resolvative1577
resolutative1582
solvent1686
resolvent1732
solutive1732
soluble1846
diluent1878
solving1883
1878 J. B. Mozley Argument of Design in Ess. II. 379 A rule much more diluent of all certainty.
B. n.
1. That which dilutes, dissolves, or makes more fluid; a diluting agent; a solvent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dissolving > [noun] > solvent
menstruea1550
menstruum1559
dissolvent1646
dissolver1651
solvent1671
resolvent1678
solutive1712
diluter1718
diluent1775
1775 E. Barry Observ. Wines Ancients 392 This is the universal diluent.
1827 J. Abernethy Surg. Wks. I. 31 The pancreatic juice has been considered as an useful and necessary diluent.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. 215 A chemist might call the former the sublimate, the latter the diluent, of the Actual.
1878 J. B. Mozley Argument of Design in Ess. II. 382 They are dissolved as soon as they enter this strong diluent.
2. spec. A substance which increases the proportion of water in the blood and other bodily fluids.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > medicine to draw, disperse, etc., matter or humours > [noun] > medicine increasing fluid
diluter1718
diluent1721
humectant1822
humective1828
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Diluents..medicines serving to thin the blood.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 270 Diluents, as Water, Whey, Tea.
1782 J. C. Smyth in Med. Communications 1 77 Warm diluents were..all that were necessary for the cure.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) 53 The patient requires diluents for quite other purposes than quenching the thirst.
1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 588 A diluent is an indifferent substance which is absorbed and in its passage through the body simply dilutes the various fluids of the organism as well as the excretions.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1721