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rarefaction

Definition of rarefaction

noun

[mass noun]
  • reduction in the density of something, especially air or a gas: opposed processes such as rarefaction and condensation [count noun]:a series of rarefactions and compactions
  • Medicine the lessening of density of tissue, especially of nervous tissue or bone: the cord has undergone rarefaction

Origin:

early 17th century: from medieval Latin rarefactio(n-), from the verb rarefacere 'grow thin, become rare'

rarefaction in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of rarefaction in the US English dictionary