embrittlement

English

WOTD – 29 December 2015

Etymology

embrittle +‎ -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛmˈbɹɪtl̩mənt/

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• Hyphenation: em‧brit‧tle‧ment

Noun

embrittlement (countable and uncountable, plural embrittlements)

1. The process of being embrittled; loss of flexibility or elasticity of a material.
   • 1964, Metal Mining & Processing, volume 1, page 32:

     Even if no weakening effects were noticed after one or two overheatings, the cumulative heat effects would cause embrittlement and failure after subsequent overheatings.

Derived terms

• hydrogen embrittlement

Translations

Process of being embrittled.

• Afrikaans: verbrossing (af)
• Dutch: verbrossing (nl) f
• German: Versprödung f