titrate

English

Etymology 1

Modelled after French titrer. Equivalent to French titre (“title, quality, chemical proportion”) +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪtɹeɪt/, /ˈtaɪtɹeɪt/
• Rhymes: -aɪtɹeɪt

Verb

titrate (third-person singular simple present titrates, present participle titrating, simple past and past participle titrated)

1. (analytical chemistry) To ascertain the amount of a constituent in a solution (or other mixture) by measuring the volume of a known concentration (the "standard solution") needed to complete a reaction.
   • 2004, Martin Torgoff, “Everybody Must Get Stoned”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 122:

     He was obsessed with making LSD even purer than Sandoz, producing it first in powder form in gelatin capsules as well as light-blue liquid (“Mother's Milk”) that was easily recognizable when titrated onto sugar cubes.

2. (medicine, intransitive) To adjust the amount of a drug consumed until the desired effects are achieved.
   • A 5mg dose could not ease the pain, so he titrated to 10mg which brought him immediate relief.
3. (figuratively) To precisely control.

   Synonyms: calibrate, fine-tune, gauge

   • 2016 April 3, Luisa Dillner, “Can psychological treatments be harmful?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     In crisis debriefing, because it is done in group sessions, you can’t titrate the amount of exposure to the individual, so some may get more upset.

   • 2016 October 19, Melanie Thernstrom, “The Anti-Helicopter Parent’s Plea: Let Kids Play!”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     "All mammals engage in dangerous play," Gray told me. "Dangerous play is how kids learn how to titrate fear."

   • 2022 September 20, Eliot A. Cohen, “Putin Is Cornered”, in The Atlantic‎^[3]:

     The error lies in thinking that one can titrate the application of violence to achieve exquisitely precise results. To the extent that the West continues to attempt to do so, it will merely ensure more mass graves like those of Bucha and Izyum, and more soldiers lying limbless or in the burn wards of Ukrainian military hospitals.

Derived terms

• backtitrate
• back titrate
• downtitrate
• titrant
• titratable
• titrated
• titration
• titrator

 

Related terms

• titer
• titre
• titrant

Translations

to ascertain the concentration of a solution

• Belarusian: цітраваць (citravacʹ)
• Bulgarian: титрувам (titruvam)
• Dutch: titreren (nl)
• Finnish: titrata (fi)
• French: titrer (fr)
• German: titrieren (de)
• Greek: τιτλοδοτώ (el) (titlodotó)
• Hungarian: titrál (hu)
• Italian: titolare (it)
• Maori: ine kukū
• Polish: miareczkować
• Portuguese: titular (pt)
• Russian: титровать (ru) (titrovatʹ)
• Spanish: titular (es)

Etymology 2

Back-formation from titration or from the above verb, either on the basis of -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Noun

titrate (plural titrates)

1. A solution of unknown concentration which is (to be) tested by means of titration.
   • 2009, Methods in Enzymology, volumes 468, 412:

     A typical titration requires approximately 1.8–2.0 mL of titrate at a concentration of 1–2 µM. The titrant will typically be at a concentration 10–20 times that of the titrate.

Coordinate terms

• titrant

Etymology 3

From French titré or the above verb, either on the basis of -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Adjective

titrate (comparative more titrate, superlative most titrate)

1. (obsolete) Precisely measured.
   • 1885, Athenæum:

     Dr. R. Dubois's apparatus for applying anæsthetics composed of titrate mixtures of chloroform and air was described on June 22nd..before the Academy of Sciences.

Further reading

• titration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• attrite, tattier

Spanish

Verb

titrate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of titrar combined with te