Meanings
- obsoleteuncountableThe transformation of organic matter into humus; decomposition.
Much of this valuable material is lost by constant clean cultivation and the consequent burning of the organic materials, before it reaches the stage in which humifaction may take place.
1914, Wendell Paddock, Fruit-growing in Arid Regions, page 1972 more examples
In the Hejira from Rome the Holy Spirit was less perceptible than the Spirit of Hartshorn, administered by the French Ambassador; and the coach (I hear) displayed on the carpet less of sanctification than of humifaction.
1853, Walter Savage Landor, The Last Fruit Off an Old Tree, page 193The process of rapid superficial humifaction which takes place. here, is to be attributed doubtless to the temperature being so much higher than in the temperate zones, where a corresponding degree of decomposition would be the work of years.
1873, Dr. Georg Schweinfurth, translated by Ellen E. Frewer, The Heart of Africa, translation of original in German, page 533
Cite this entry
humifaction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humifaction
“humifaction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humifaction. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “humifaction,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humifaction.
Source: humifaction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.