Word of the Day

: August 15, 2019

miscible

adjective MISS-uh-bul

What It Means

: capable of being mixed; specifically : capable of mixing in any ratio without separation of two phases

miscible in Context

Oil and water are not miscible—if you pour oil in a glass of water, it will float to the top. 

"Although the alkalized cocoa was not completely soluble in milk or water, it was more miscible than any other cocoa product, blending more evenly in solution…." — Deborah Cadbury, Chocolate Wars, 2010

Did You Know?

Miscible isn't simply a lesser-known synonym of mixable—it's also a cousin. It comes to us from the Medieval Latin adjective miscibilis, which has the same meaning as miscible and which derives, in turn, from Latin miscēre, meaning "to mix." Miscēre is also the ultimate source of our mix; its past participle mixtus (meaning "mixed") spawned mixte in Anglo-French and Middle English, and mix came about as a back-formation of mixte. The suffix -able gives us mixable, thereby completing its link to miscible. Miscible turns up most frequently in scientific discussions where it is used especially to describe fluids that don't separate when they are combined.