Disputatio:Gel

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E Vicipaedia

It seems to me that the name of 'gel' in Latin is difficult, since it comes from an ordinary Latin word. The problem is that (con)gelare in Latin can mean any type of solidification, though most commonly freezing; I am sure English 'freeze' did too, once, but has been improved.

Well, you're wrong here. Freeze has had the meaning freeze since PIE *preus-, which had the meaning burn as well, both of which meanings are widely attested in daughter languages. OE freosan meant "to turn to ice", not "to become solid". The figurative sense wasn't recorded in the history of English until the 14th century. --Ioscius 23:06, 5 Maii 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Therefore gelatum (the form that has been used in pharmaceutical Latin) as fine when an adjective, as it originally was, but as a general noun it is rather ambiguous as it seems to mean anything frozen (or otherwise solidified). I propose this name, (solutio) gelata as more accurate; I use gelata rather than congelata or coagulata by association with gelatinum (this seems to be the standard Latin form, app. gelatina f. has also been used, as would correspond to the Romance forms), from which the name derives (see [1]), but I do use coagulare here for the verb meaning 'form a gel', which would be the choice of an 18th-century chemist (barring (con)gelare).

Alternatively gelum, shortened (from gelatinum) as it has been in all other languages, could be used; though that is a possible form of the word meaning 'cold' (by the way, was the m. or n. form the older? Is it known?) it should not be ambiguous in context. (However, the alternative form gelatina would give gela, which would not have any possible collision with forms of gelu(s).) We have to accept though the lack of a distinct verb or noun meaning 'form a gel' (Eng. gel, gelation); English there has essentially borrowed a Latin verb in a specialized sense as it has with 'mutation' and some others. I think even though gelum does not look very attractive, it is most logical.

Why would we shorten this in the first place?--Ioscius 23:06, 5 Maii 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In any case the essence of what a gel is is a frozen/congealed solution, hence the name. Pantocrator 03:43, 27 Aprilis 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is it correct to characterise gel as a frozen/congealed solution? Others seem to say it's a colloidal system. Until a Vicipaedia-independent source can be cited, maybe it's best to treat gel as a loan word in Latin (as in other languages, too); i.e. gel n. --Neander 00:10, 6 Maii 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The part that is wrong is not that it is solid (doesn't flow) but the claim that it is a solution, which contradicts all the wikis. A solid colloid would have been ok.--130.215.96.180 00:42, 6 Maii 2010 (UTC)[reply]