refrigerationn.
/rᵻˌfrɪdʒəˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /rəˌfrɪdʒəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/, /riˌfrɪdʒəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. The action of cooling or freezing something; the process of becoming cold. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > [noun] > becoming or making cold
coolingc1350
keelingc1384
chilling1393
refrigerationa1500
infrigidation1583
refrigerating1600
infrigidating1650
frigefaction1656
frigerationa1691
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > [noun] > becoming or making cold > of the body or its parts
coolingc1350
refreidingc1384
refrigerationa1500
a1500 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Ashm.) l. 1412 It [sc. a sublimate] reioyseth with refrygeracion [v.r. refrigeneracione]..kepe it therfore with temperate hete a-downe.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 263 Suche thynges..are hyndered by refrigeration or coulde.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 59 Irons heated in the fire..contract a verticity in their refrigeration . View more context for this quotation
1684 R. Boyle Exper. Porosity of Bodies vi. 104 These thin flaws, which upon the slow refrigeration of the Stones..might lock up the tinging Particles.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. v. 185 That refreshment and pleasing refrigeration of the air, which is sometimes produced in other climates by rains.
1791 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 81 57 The art of making Reamur's porcelain consists entirely in allowing the black glass time to crystallize by a slow refrigeration.
1819 R. Heber Let. 12 June in A. Heber Life R. Heber (1830) I. xvi. 514 The cold water had been so gradually applied to my hopes, that their final refrigeration, when it came, was hardly perceptible.
1847 T. Milner Gallery of Nature (1855) 296 The vapours cannot become visible by refrigeration.
1883 R. Broughton Belinda II. ii. v. 58 ‘That means..that you are not in earnest,’ says Mrs. Churchill, with a disappointed refrigeration of tone.
1975 M. Duffy Capital v. 212 The whole world is Coldharbour Lane on a wet night without a minny of rum to put between you and refrigeration.
2. † a. Refreshing or cooling of the blood or spirits; loss of bodily heat. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > refreshment or invigoration > [noun]
heartingOE
coolingc1350
refreshinga1382
recreationa1393
easement?a1400
rehetinga1400
freshing1422
refrigery?a1425
refectionc1450
refreshmenta1470
refrigeration1502
corroborating1530
recreating1538
comfortation1543
repast1546
rousing?a1563
refocillation1570
refresh1592
inanimationa1631
recruita1643
irrigationa1660
quicking1661
invigoration1662
reinvigoration1663
recuperation1703
rally1826
recruiting1840
energizing1841
recreance1842
inspiriting1846
animation1855
recruitment1862
inspiritment1886
pepping up1916
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iv. sig. d v The water gyueth refrygeracyon. The baptem taketh & coleth the inclynacyon.
1606 J. Carpenter Schelomonocham ii. f. 8 We hoped for some consolatory refrigeration and ease.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 126 By smelling they preuent the ayr that should come vnto them for refrigeration.
1635 D. Person Varieties i. 35 I could allow for fishes a kind of respiration called refrigeration.
1689 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) xxxviii. 247 Though they receive some refrigeration by their Guills, yet that refrigeration is not so continual, as when it is by breathing.
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 93 The Ancients imputed Fatuity to the Refrigeration of the Head.
b. Medicine. Cooling of all or part of the body for therapeutic purposes, typically by the application of ice or some other refrigerant, now esp. to provide local anaesthesia or to reduce bleeding or metabolic activity of tissue during surgery.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > cooling treatment > [noun]
refrigerative1583
refrigeration1828
cryotherapy1909
cryoablation1968
1828 Lancet 15 Mar. 368/2 Ice has been introduced into the vagina, not, however, without the risk of freezing and mortification;..but, for general use, the most convenient method of refrigeration is by means of the napkin.
1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. ii. i. 226 Actual refrigeration, and bleeding.
1941 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 52 235/1 Refrigeration is applicable to other conditions not handicapped by senility and arteriosclerosis.
1980 Jrnl. Dermatol. Surg. Oncol. 6 119/1 Anesthesia and stiffening of the skin by refrigeration is uncomfortable.
2007 European Urol. Suppl. 6 235/1 The operations..included..local refrigeration and closure of the tumor bed by glue or sutures.
3. Geology and Climatology. The gradual or periodical cooling of the interior or (esp.) climate of the earth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > [noun] > cooling of earth
refrigeration1794
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 71 That the successive cooling or refrigeration of the earth is a groundless notion.
1841 J. Trimmer Pract. Geol. 469 The secular refrigeration of the heated interior of our planet.
1875 tr. E. O. Schmidt Doctr. Descent & Darwinism 11 We may..infer that, at a definite epoch of refrigeration, life appeared in a natural manner.
1914 Geogr. Jrnl. 43 708 The erroneous and widespread conception that the Earth is in a period of refrigeration, dessication and decay.
1984 Science 27 Jan. 383 A paleontologist argues that periodic global refrigeration has been the main proximal agent of extinction.
4. The production and maintenance by artificial means of temperatures near or below the freezing point of water, esp. for the purpose of chilling or preserving food, drink, or other materials; the preservation of food, etc., by such means; storage in a refrigerator.Now the dominant sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preserving or pickling > [noun] > preserving by cooling or freezing
refrigeration1850
cold storage1877
quick-freezing1889
chilling1902
flash freezing1942
hydro-cooling1942
freeze-drying1944
blast-freezing1948
icing1956
cook-freeze1970
cook-chill1977
sous vide1986
1850 U.S. Patent 7,767 1/1 A vessel of wood or other material, of a cylindrical or other form intended for holding ice or the materials for artificial refrigeration may be used as the cooling vessel.
1878 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 28 July Shipments to England of meat from the United States, kept fresh by the process of refrigeration.
1911 E. H. Favor Fruit-growers Guide-bk. ix. 223 The perfection of methods of shipping fruits under refrigeration.
1938 Life 6 June 71/2 (advt.) No refrigeration required—cools the entire apartment with nature conditioned night air.
1959 P. Frank Alas, Babylon vii. 121 When nuclear fireballs crisped..the power plants serving Timucuan County, refrigeration stopped, along with electric cooking.
1987 A. Miller Timebends (1988) i. 64 For refrigeration the iceman had to bring cakes of ice up on his shoulder.
1997 Guardian 19 June i. 10/7 The Government is to press the European Union to outlaw ‘chill cans’, which cool drinks without refrigeration, because the invention releases gases which accelerate global warming.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts x. 127/1 Tomatoes: Put them in a warm place... Refrigeration causes a mealy texture.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
refrigeration company n.
ΚΠ
1891 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Light 14 Nov. St. Louis mourns the loss of Missouri refrigeration company.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 28 Aug. 7/2 Les Whitely, who owns a refrigeration company in the San Francisco Bay area.
refrigeration machinery n.
ΚΠ
1887 U.S. Patent 356,210 1/1 Heretofore it has been common to use a refrigerator-tank or other suitable vessel in connection with refrigeration machinery for the purpose of holding a supply of brine or other cooled liquid.
1919 Camp Worker 26 Apr. 5/2 A large number of our city folk imagine that a ‘timber beast’ has just about as much need for brain as a Canadian soldier in Siberia has for refrigeration machinery.
1998 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 24 July A4/5 Reliable refrigeration machinery began to be manufactured in the post-World War I boom.
refrigeration unit n.
ΚΠ
1912 Evening Post (Frederick, Maryland) 8 June 2/3 The top [of the soda fountain] is of Italian marble with a working board and refrigeration unit of German silver.
1969 Coast to Coast 1967–8 103 The Natwicks sat on the front veranda to watch the traffic..the semi-trailers and refrigeration units, the decent old-style sedans, [etc.].
2003 R. J. Lempert et al. Next Generation Environmental Technol. App. A-95 The Stirling refrigerator's inroads in the markets of the developed world would likely occur for small-scale refrigeration units and coolers.
C2.
refrigeration anaesthesia n. [after Danish kuldeanæstesi (1910 in the source translated in quot. 1914)] Medicine local or regional anaesthesia produced by cooling of tissue.
ΚΠ
1914 tr. T. Rovsing Abdominal Surg. v. 97 Not until the commencement of the last century did the idea of refrigeration anæsthesia crop up again, J. Hunter proving by vivisection that freezing mixtures can make the skin quite insensible.
1971 Brit. Jrnl. Anaesthesia 43 616/1 Ice without additives is therefore the safest agent to use to produce local refrigeration anaesthesia.
2000 Jrnl. Dentistry 28 3/1 Surface anaesthesia may be achieved by physical methods, such as refrigeration anaesthesia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1500