catenation

[ kat-n-ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or process of catenating.
2. Chemistry. the linking of identical atoms to form chainlike molecules.

Word History and Origins

Origin of catenation¹

1635–45; < Latin catēnātiōn-, stem of catēnātiō; catenate, -ion

Example Sentences

Across the shoulder runs one word that Drake inscribed, with a sharpened stick or similar tool: “catination,” a variant of catenation, the state of being yoked or chained.

From New York Times

The ordinary places we think we know onshore are an altogether different matter seen — and heard — from the water, where the creatures with whom we share this place are cavorting in a spring catenation of life.

From Seattle Times

The authors took advantage of this fortuitous process to devise a protocol for making large, self-assembled polycatenanes by using a solution of toroids as ‘seeds’ for catenation.

From Nature

The construction of larger systems is limited by the efficiency of the catenation step, in which a preassembled toroid precursor forms a ring that interlinks through another toroid; moreover, a large number of covalent bonds must be formed in the preassembled structure.

From Nature

The authors found that addition of monomers in small portions favours the initiation of self-assembly processes that lead to catenation and were thus able to produce linear and branched polycatenanes containing up to 22 rings.

From Nature

Related Words

• arrangement
• array
• progression
• string