chlorinate

C3H4L1O1R1I1N1A1T1E1
UK/ˈklɒ.ɹɪ.neɪt/

verb

To add chlorine to (something, especially water, to purify it; or an auriferous substance, to extract gold from it).

OriginEnglish chlorine ← Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós) ← Proto-Hellenic *kʰlōrós →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

verbchlorinate (third-person singular simple present chlorinates, present participle chlorinating, simple past and past participle chlorinated)

present singular third person chlorinates · participle present chlorinating · participle past chlorinated · past chlorinated

  1. transitivechemistryTo add chlorine to (something, especially water, to purify it; or an auriferous substance, to extract gold from it).

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃rós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʰlōrós
  4. Ancient Greekχλωρός (khlōrós)
  5. Englishchlorine
  6. Englishchlorinate

From chlorine + -ate.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كلور
  • كلور (kalwara)to add chlorine to
Catalan clorar
  • clorarto add chlorine to
Finnish kloorata
  • klooratato add chlorine to
French chlorer
  • chlorerto add chlorine to
German chlorieren
  • chlorierento add chlorine to
Hungarian klóroz
  • klórozto add chlorine to
Italian clorurare
  • clorurareto add chlorine to
Polish chlorować
  • chlorowaćto add chlorine to
Russian хлори́ровать
  • хлори́ровать (xlorírovatʹ)to add chlorine to
Spanish clorinar
  • clorinarto add chlorine to
Swedish klorera
  • klorerato add chlorine to
Turkish klorlamak
  • klorlamakto add chlorine to
Ukrainian хлорува́ти
  • хлорува́ти (xloruváty)to add chlorine to

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

ectorhinaltornachile
Cite this entry
APA

chlorinate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chlorinate

MLA

“chlorinate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chlorinate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chlorinate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chlorinate.

Source: chlorinate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.