marinate

What it means

1. ergativetransitiveTo allow a sauce or flavoring mixture to absorb into something; to steep or soak something in a marinade to flavor or prepare it for cooking.

   You'll get a better flavour from the chicken if you marinate it first.

   1 more example

   After the chicken has marinated for two hours, discard the remaining marinade.

2. ambitransitiveTo allow a substance to be absorbed into the hair or scalp.

   Let your scalp marinate while you shave.

   2000, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Men: From Heart Disease and Headaches to Flabby Abs and Fatigue, Random House Publishing Group, page 243

   2 more examples

   oblucy: "vinegar... to marinate the scalp... oil... to lubricate the scalp..."

   1992 September 3, Laura Potler (GSFC), “own private idaho”, in alt.peeves (Usenet)

   Wrap a dry towel around the wet towel, and let your child's hair marinate for an hour.

   2014 [2006], Ellen Sandbeck, Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity (ebook), Scribner, page 400

3. ambitransitiveOf a substance, to absorb into the hair or scalp.

   a rejuvenating oil you use to saturate your hair and let it marinate from 15 minutes to 2 hours

   2003 November 22, fig, “I met THE Philip B. today!”, in alt.fashion (Usenet)

   1 more example

   [...] hair rather than the scalp, but as always, experiment. You can also play around with how long you leave the mixture on your head — some people have better results after letting the ACV marinate for a few minutes.

   2015, Savannah Born, Shampoo-Free: A DIY Guide to Putting Down the Bottle and Embracing Healthier, Happier Hair (ebook), Skyhorse Publishing, unnumbered page

In a sentence

You'll get a better flavour from the chicken if you marinate it first.

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*móri“the sea”
2. Latinmare“the sea”
3. Latinmarinus“marine, of the sea”
4. Late Latinmarina“brine, salt water”
5. Italianmarinare“to pickle, marinate”
6. Frenchmariner
7. Englishmarinate

First attested in 1645; adapted from either French mariner or the earlier attested Italian marinare (“to pickle, marinate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Late Latin marina (“brine, salt water”), short for aqua marina (“sea water”), from Latin marinus (“marine, of the sea”), from Latin mare (“the sea”) from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“the sea”).