azeotrope

noun

azeo·​trope ˈā-zē-ə-ˌtrōp 

: a liquid mixture that is characterized by a constant minimum or maximum boiling point which is lower or higher than that of any of the components

Word History

Etymology

a- entry 2 + Greek ze-, stem of zéō, zeîn "to boil, seethe" + -o- + -trope, after earlier azeotropic "having the characteristics of an azeotrope" — more at yeast entry 1

Note: The term azeotropic was introduced by the English chemist John Wade (1864-1912) and his coworker Richard Willliam Merriman in "Influence of Water on the Boiling Point of Ethyl Alcohol at Pressures Above and Below the Atmospheric Pressure," Journal of the Chemical Society - Transactions, vol. 99 (1911), p. 1004.

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

azeotrope

noun

azeo·​trope ā-ˈzē-ə-ˌtrōp 

: a liquid mixture that is characterized by a constant minimum or maximum boiling point which is lower or higher than that of any of the components and that distills without change in composition

azeotropic

-ˌzē-ə-ˈtrō-pik  -ˈträp-ik 

adjective