desiccate

Etymology

From Latin dēsiccāre (“to dry completely, dry up”) + -ate (verb suffix indicating acting in the specified manner). Dēsiccāre is the infinitive of dēsiccō (“to desiccate, dry up; to drain dry”) (from dē- (prefix meaning ‘completely, to exhaustion’) + siccō (“to dry; to drain, exhaust”), from siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-) + -āre. The adjective is derived from Latin dēsiccātus (“dried up”), the perfect passive participle of dēsiccō: see above. The noun is derived from the adjective.

verb

1. (transitive) To remove moisture from; to dry.
   Except on the borders of the ocean, and on the mountain sides where it deposits moisture in a visible form, the sea breeze has a drying effect. It desiccates the soil with rapidity. 1876 February, Henry Gibbons, “Notes on the Climate of San Francisco and of California, with Special Relation to Pulmonary Disorders”, in Henry Gibbons, Henry Gibbons, Jr., editors, Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, volume XVIII, number 9, San Francisco, Calif.: Bonnard & Daly, printers,[…], →OCLC, page 403
   [George A.] Wyeth, who is also a first class surgeon, as well as urologist, has made use of the desiccation and endothermic method to destroy tumors in the bladder by making a suprapublic opening and then penetrating and desiccating the disease in an area all around the base of the tumor which is then undermined, desiccated, and removed. 1924 July, Howard A[twood] Kelly, William Neill, Jr., “The Treatment of Tumors of the Bladder”, in Charles Wood Fassett, editor, The Medical Herald and Physiotherapist, volume XLIII, number 7, Kansas City, Mo.: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 161, column 2
   At the time of spring burning in 1968 the leaves and small stems of standing manzanita plants had been thoroughly desiccated by the spray treatment first applied in November, 1966. 1970, Stanley B. Carpenter, Jay R. Bentley, Charles A. Graham, “Results”, in Moisture Contents of Brushland Fuels Desiccated for Burning (U.S.D.A. Forest Service Research Note; PSW-202), Berkeley, Calif.: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 4, column 2
   Transfer the acetone washings to a tared beaker and evaporate to dryness at ambient temperature and pressure. Desiccate and dry to a constant weight. 1974 May, James O. Dealy, Arthur M. Killin, “Appendix B: Sampling and Analytical Techniques”, in Engineering and Cost Study of the Ferroalloy Industry (Publication; no. EPA-450/2-74-008), North Carolina: Office of Air and Waste Management, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Environmental Protection Agency, →OCLC, page B-7, column 3
2. (transitive) To preserve by drying.
   The nuts are then passed into a double disc machine, and this travelling at a speed of 3,000 revolutions per minute desiccates the coconut. 1929 July, “Uncle Gib”, “Children’s Corner”, in Gibsonia Gazette, volume 3, number 8, Perth, W.A.: Issued by the House of Foy & Gibson, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-04-30, page 6
   All equipment used for removing the meat from the shell and for grinding, shredding, drying, classifying, and desiccating the coconut should be clean and free from pathogens. 1975, Committee on Food Protection, Food and Nutrition Board, Division of Biological Sciences, Assembly of Life Sciences, National Research Council, “Nuts, Macaroni, and Noodle Products and Dry Blended Food”, in Prevention of Microbial and Parasitic Hazards Associated with Processed Foods: A Guide for the Food Processor, Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, page 71
3. (intransitive, rare) To become dry; to dry up.
   Lately, in France, they stopped the boiling process in the preparation of brown sugar a few degrees before the point of crystallization, which is 243°, or 244°; and then spreading their syrup over their copper pans, placed round a stove or bake house, leave the syrup to desiccate slowly, and to crystallize in what they call the natural way; […] 1 September 1830, Thomas Spalding, “Sugar Cane, &c.: Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, in Reply to a Resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th of January last, upon the Subject of the Cultivation of the Sugar Cane, and the Manufacture and Refinement of Sugar. [Doc. No. 62] [Letter from Thomas Spalding, Esq., dated Sapelo Island, near Darien, Containing Answers to Inquiries Respecting the Culture of the Sugar Cane, the Manufacture of Sugar, &c.]”, in Executive Documents of the House of Representatives, at the Second Session of the Twenty-first Congress,[…], volume III, Washington, D.C.: Printed by Duff Green, published 1831, →OCLC, page 40
   Favus is a chronic inflammation of the hair-follicles, associated with the production of a peculiar yellowish substance which surrounds the cylinder of the hair, and is seen through the epidermis as a minute circular spot, not raised above the level of the skin. The yellow substance, after a short period, escapes from the follicles upon the surface of the epidermis, and desiccates into yellowish friable crusts, forming a distinct cup with an inverted border, around the base of each hair. 1842, Erasmus Wilson, “Diseases of the Hairs and Hair-follicles”, in A Practical and Theoretical Treatise on the Diagnosis, Pathology, & Treatment of Diseases of the Skin:[…], London: John Churchill,[…], →OCLC, pages 345–346
   A dry atmosphere also preserves organic bodies from decay. This is exemplified in some parts of Texas and South America, where meat is readily preserved, though the country is warm if not hot. The fluids simply evaporate, and leave the harder parts to dessicate. 1846 October, “Preservation of Fruits”, in E[benezer] Emmons, A. Osborn, O. C. Gardiner, editors, American Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and Science, volume IV, number VIII, New York, N.Y.: Huntington & Savage,[…], →OCLC, pages 301–302

adj

1. Having had moisture removed; dehydrated, desiccated.
   It [the byssus fungus] is not only capable of propagation by the most minute fragments, however rudely detached, but it also retains the principle of revivification for years together when in a desiccate state. 21 May 1824, “Liolett”, “On Vegetable Revivification”, in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, volume III, number LXXXVIII, London: Printed and published by J[ohn] Limbird,[…], published 12 June 1824, →OCLC, page 388, column 1
   How many years have you been here? / […] / Before a desiccate sky left rivers of cracks / in the belly of your red earth? 2016 August, Loretta Diane Walker, “Offsprings of Extremes [first published in Red River Review]”, in Barbara Blanks, editor, A Galaxy of Verse, volume 36, number 2, Garland, Tex.: A Galaxy of Verse Literary Foundation, published fall–winter 2016, page 89

noun

1. A substance which has been desiccated, that is, had its moisture removed.
   The Cy dyes are shipped as a desiccate in sealed packs. 2011, Virgil A. Rhodius, Carol A. Gross, “Using DNA Microarrays to Assay Part Function”, in Christopher Voigt, editor, Methods in Enzymology, volumes 497 (Synthetic Biology, Part A; Methods for Part/Device Characterization and Chassis Engineering), San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, →ISSN, section 5.3 (Cy3/Cy5 Coupling), page 90