verb
distill
dih-STIL/dɪˈstɪl/
To purify by evaporating liquid and condensing its vapor.
The lab distills water to remove salts and other impurities.
Etymology
The Latin components together conveyed trickling down in tiny drops. That image connects to purification by heating and condensation: the condensed liquid is collected as drops.
In context
unless you want to buy a still in order to distill the essential oil, I wouldn't try to make like a creamy product out of out of the lavender.
More examples
- Distilling seawater leaves the salt behind.
- They distilled the used solvent so they could reuse it.
- This machine distills water by boiling it and cooling the vapor.
Forms
distill · distills · distilled · distilling
distillation noun — Purification through evaporation and condensation.
distiller noun — A person or device that distills liquids.