sublimation

[ suhb-luh-mey-shuhn ]

noun

1. Psychology. the diversion of the energy of a sexual or other biological impulse from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable social, moral, or aesthetic nature or use.
2. Chemistry. the act, fact, or process of subliming.
3. a purification or refinement; ennoblement.

sublimation

/ sŭb′lə-mā′shən /

1. The process of changing from a solid to a gas without passing through an intermediate liquid phase. Carbon dioxide, at a pressure of one atmosphere, sublimates at about −78 degrees Celsius. Ice and snow on the Earth's surface also sublimate at temperatures below the freezing point of water.
2. Compare deposition

sublimation

¹

1. In Freudian psychology, a defense mechanism by which the individual satisfies a socially prohibited instinctive drive (usually sexual or aggressive) through the substitution of socially acceptable behavior. For example, someone with strong sexual drives who paints nude portraits may be engaging in sublimation.

sublimation

²

1. In chemistry , the direct conversion of a solid into a gas , without passage through a liquid stage. ( See phases of matter .)

Other Words From

• subli·mation·al adjective
• nonsub·li·mation noun
• resub·li·mation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sublimation¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Middle French, from Late Latin sublimation-, stem of sublimatio “elevation,” equivalent to Latin sublimāt(us), past participle of sublimāre “to elevate” + -iō -ion ( def ); sublimate ( def )

Example Sentences

Readers will understandably recoil at the musician’s callousness, especially given Mintz’s sublimation of himself in the service of Lennon and Ono.

From Salon

Once the sample has been fully solidified, the solid solvent is removed by sublimation during lyophilization.

From Science Daily

As several COMs, including those detected in the solid phase in this research, were previously detected in the warm gas phase, it is now believed that they originate from the sublimation of ices.

From Science Daily

How about a righteous female cop who takes her cases a little too personally, going so far as to endanger herself as a sublimation of the dissatisfaction in her domestic life?

From New York Times

This continuous cycle of sublimation and condensation through vertical transport is responsible for the enduring presence of sand clouds in WASP-107b's atmosphere.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• reticence
• self-consciousness
• shyness