distil

verb

Etymology: From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil; to condense or vaporize; (figuratively) to give (good fortune) to; to say (slanderous words)”) [and other forms], from Old French distiller (modern French distiller (“to distil”)), and from its etymon Latin distīllāre, a variant of Latin dēstīllāre, the present active infinitive of dēstīllō (“to drip or trickle down; to distil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down, down from, down to’) + stīllō (“to drip, drop, trickle; to distil”) (from stīlla (“drop of liquid; (figuratively) small quantity”), probably a diminutive of stīria (“ice drop; icicle”)). Cognates * French distiller (“to distil”) * Italian distillare (“to distil”) * Occitan distillar * Portuguese destilar (“to distil; to drip”) * Spanish destilar (“to distil; to exude; to filter”)

1. To exude (a liquid) in small drops; also, to give off (a vapour) which condenses in small drops.

   “Firs distil resin.”

   “[I]t [Silene] eaſeth the head-ach, if togither with oile of roſes it be diſtilled upon the head by way of embrochation.”

2. To impart (information, etc.) in small quantities; to infuse.

   “But of all other men our Solomon could leaſt be ignorant of this truth. Not only for that reaſon, becauſe God had filled his heart with a large meaſure of wiſdom beyond other men: but even for this reaſon alſo: that being born of wiſe and godly Parents, and born to a Kingdom too, […] he had this truth (conſidering the great uſefulneſs of it to him in the whole time of his future Government) early diſtilled into him by both his Parents, and was ſeaſoned thereinto from his childhood in his education.”

   “She felt the slackening frost distil Through her blood the last ooze dull and chill: Her lids were dry and her lips were still.”

3. To heat (a substance, usually a liquid) so that a vapour is produced, and then to cool the vapour so that it condenses back into a liquid, either to purify the original substance or to obtain one of its components; to subject to distillation.

   “Haue I not bene Thy Pupill long? Haſt thou not learn'd me how To make Perfumes? Diſtill? Preſerue?”

   “By putting the hydrate into a bent tube, afterwards hermetically sealed, I found it easy, after decomposing it by a heat of 100°, to distil the yellow fluid to one end of the tube, and so separate it from the remaining portion.”

4. Followed by off or out: to expel (a volatile substance) from something by distillation.
5. To extract the essence of (something) by, or as if by, distillation; to concentrate, to purify.

   “But earthlyer happy is the roſe diſtild, Then that, which, withering on the virgin thorne, Growes, liues, and dies, in ſingle bleſſedneſſe.”

   “But flowers diſtil'd though they with winter meete, Leeſe but their ſhow, their ſubſtance ſtill liues ſweet.”

6. To transform a thing (into something else) by distillation.

   “Ile grow to your embraces, till two ſoules Diſtilled into kiſſes, through our lips Doe make one ſpirit of love.”

7. To make (something, especially spirits such as gin and whisky) by distillation.

   “There is ſome ſoule of goodneſſe in things euill, VVould men obſeruingly diſtill it out.”

   “It is ſuppoſ'd He that meetes Hector, yſſues from our choice, And choice (being mutuall act of all our ſoules) Makes merit her election, and doth boyle, (As twere from forth vs all) a man diſtill'd Out of our vertues, […]”

8. To transform a complex large language model into a smaller one.

   ““We are aware of and reviewing indications that DeepSeek may have inappropriately distilled our models, and will share information as we know more,” she said.”

9. To dissolve or melt (something).

   “Swords by the Light'ning's ſubtile Force diſtill'd, And the cold Sheath with running Metal fill'd: […]”

10. To fall or trickle down in small drops; to exude, to ooze out; also, to come out as a vapour which condenses in small drops.

    “The Euphrates […] diſtilleth out of the mountains of Armenia.”

    “Let Myrrh inſtead of Thorn his Fences fill: And Show'rs of Hony from his Oaks diſtil.”

11. To flow or pass gently or slowly; hence (figuratively) to be manifested gently or gradually.

    “And al Iſrael haue tranſgreſſed thy law, and haue declined from hearing thy voice, and the malediction hath diſtilled vpon vs, & the deteſtation, which is written in the booke of Moyſes the ſeruant of God, becauſe we haue ſinned to him.”

    “My doctrine ſhall drop as the raine: my ſpeach ſhall diſtill as the deaw, as the ſmal raine vpon the tender herbe, and as the ſhowres vpon the graſſe.”

12. To drip or be wet with some liquid.

    “So when two Boars, in wild Ytene bred, Or on VVeſtphalia’s fatt’ning Cheſt-nuts fed, […] In the black Flood they wallow o’er and o’er, ’Till their arm’d Jaws diſtill with Foam and Gore.”

    “[B]efore ſome Mountain Lion's Ire The village Curs, and trembling Swains retire; VVhen o'er the ſlaughter'd Bull they hear him roar, And ſee his Jaws diſtil with ſmoaking Gore; […]”

13. To turn into a vapour and then condense back into a liquid; to undergo or be produced by distillation.

    “The outward Peace of the Church, Diſtilleth into Peace of Conſcience; […]”

    “Carbonic acid is a limpid colourless body, extremely fluid, and floating upon the other contents of the tube. It distills readily and rapidly at the difference of temperature between 32° and 0°.”