solidify

Etymology

It is borrowed from French solidifier,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from solide (“solid”) and the suffix -fier.^[3][6][4] Merriam-Webster takes it as formed in English from solid and -ify.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make solid, firm or compact: 1799, in R. Kirwan's Geological Essays.^[2][3][9]

Semantic evolution

The verb was first transitive, of turning something into a solid body;^[2][3] the intransitive "to become solid", of a liquid or gas, followed in 1837, in a translation of Vicat on mortars.^[2][3] From 1885 it was used figuratively for concentrating or consolidating,^[2][4] and Merriam-Webster gives senses such as making something secure or firmly fixed, as opinions or knowledge.^[7] The noun solidification is recorded from 1800 in Etymonline,^[3] which notes an earlier solidation (“a making solid”) from the 1540s.^[3]

Timeline

• 1799 – to make solid, firm or compact.^[2][3][9]
• 1837 – to become solid.^[2][3]
• 1885 – to concentrate or consolidate.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make or become solid, hard or firm: The wax solidified as it cooled.^[10][7][2]
2. To make or become strong, united or firmly fixed: The treaty solidified the alliance.^[10][7]

Word family

• solidification
• solidifiability
• solidifiable
• solidifier
• nonsolidified
• unsolidified
• resolidify

Related words

• solid
• consolidate
• solidarity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins