condensation

UK/ˌkɒn.dɛnˈseɪ.ʃən/

nounB2+2 meanings Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,676 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: condensations

Condensation is gas turning back to liquid. Condensation on the windows, wipe off the condensation, condensation and damp.

It happens when moist air meets a surface below the dew point, which is why cold windows run with water in winter and a cold glass beads in summer. In houses it is the commonest cause of damp and mould, and ventilation rather than heating is the usual fix. In chemistry, a condensation reaction joins two molecules and releases water. Note condense.

Definitions of condensation

1nouncondensationGas turning back to liquid.B2+
“In the morning, there was condensation on the inside of the car windows.”
2noundropletsSmall drops of water that form on a cold surface, such as a window.B2
“In winter the bedroom windows are wet with condensation every morning.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

Also practised as

nounWater that forms on cold glass indoors.

Where it comes from

Latin condensatio comes from condensare, to make dense — com plus densus, thick. Dense and density come from the same thickness.

Latin
condensatio
English, today
condensation

From condense + ation, borrowed from Latin condensatio.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Science & Space, Chemistry & Elements

Practise this word

condensation in the wild

However, the first step is formally an addition reaction rather than a condensation reaction because it does not involve the loss of a small molecule.
Aldol condensation
Water vapour requires a non-gaseous surface to make the transition to a liquid; this process is called condensation.
Cloud condensation nuclei
When the reaction involves the coupling of two molecules into a single molecule it is referred to as a condensation reaction.
Dehydration reaction
In organic chemistry, the Knoevenagel condensation reaction is a type of chemical reaction named after German chemist Emil Knoevenagel.
Knoevenagel condensation
Using a strong base in this reaction would induce self-condensation of the aldehyde or ketone.
Knoevenagel condensation

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Definitions of condensation

1nouncondensationGas turning back to liquid.B2+

“In the morning, there was condensation on the inside of the car windows.”

2noundropletsSmall drops of water that form on a cold surface, such as a window.B2

“In winter the bedroom windows are wet with condensation every morning.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.