saponification
- Noun. (chemistry) The hydrolysis of an ester under basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of the acid.
- Noun. The reaction of a metallic alkali (base) with a fat or oil to form soap.
This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.
This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.