humifyv.1
/ˈhjuːmɪfʌɪ/ rare.
transitive. To render humid; to moisten.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > render humid or expose to vapour [verb (transitive)]
vapour1540
nutrite1657
humify1658
humidify1885
1658 R. White tr. K. Digby Late Disc. Cure Wounds (1660) 22 The earth, which is humified either by rain, or the dew.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 89 Marcasites and pyrites..by being humefied with water, or air, contract this heat.
Derivatives
humifiˈcation n.1 moistening.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [noun] > action or process of making
danking?a1400
rigation1631
humification1651
1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeωs ⁋229 To refresh the thirst a little by the dregs of humification.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
humifyv.2
/ˈhjuːmɪfʌɪ/ a. transitive. To convert (plant remains) into humus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > form a particular kind of soil [verb (transitive)] > convert into humus
humify1926
1926 Technol. Rep. Tôhoku Imp. Univ. VI. i. 10 As humification advances more and more, the cell walls are quite humified.
1936 S. A. Waksman Humus iv. 64 Plant material added to the soil has first to be ‘humified’ before the nutrient elements contained therein become available for plant growth.
1948 G. W. Leeper Introd. Soil Sci. xi. 136 Residues of plants are said to be humified when they lose their structure and identity in the soil.
b. intransitive. To undergo humification.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > form a particular kind of soil [verb (intransitive)] > undergo conversion to humus
humify1906
1906 E. W. Hilgard Soils (1930) viii. 139 Snyder..caused various substances to humify by mixing the pulverized material intimately with a soil poor in humus.
Derivatives
humifiˈcation n.2 the process by which plant remains are converted into humus; the state of being humified that results.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > humus > formation of humus
humification1897
1897 Minnesota Agric. Exper. Station Bull. No. 53. 13 Analyses were made of both the soil, and the material used for humus production. After the humification process had been carried on for a year the material was weighed and analyzed.
1926 [see sense a]. 1958 F. E. Zeuner Dating Past (ed. 4) iii. 64 A change in the rate of peat-growth from a slow one (allowing humification to begin in the layers near the surface), [etc.].
1968 R. G. West Pleistocene Geol. & Biol. iv. 54 The amount of humification may be measured in the field by adding a little sediment to a few ml of dilute KOH.
ˈhumified adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [adjective] > organic > humus
humic1844
humous1866
humified1906
chernozemic1965
1906 E. W. Hilgard Soils (1930) viii. 132 Excluding the unhumified while fully dissolving the humified matter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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