Dictionary entry

Saponification

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Sa‐pon′i‐fi‐ca″tion (?), n. [Cf. F. saponification. See Saponify.] The act, process, or result, of soap making; conversion into soap; specifically (Chem.), the decomposition of fats and other ethereal salts by alkalies; as, the saponification of ethyl acetate.