Liquid

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For an account of the phonetic term liquid, go to liquid (phonetics). For an account of the difference between the two words liquid and liquor, go to liquid - liquor. For clarification of some homophones, go to Liquor - licker - liqueur, and for a similar confusion of adjectives, got to [[Liquorice - licorice - licorish - liquorish]].

  • The central concept denoted by the word liquid, originally an adjective and recorded since 1780 as a noun, is one in physical sciences: it is one of the three states of matter, falling between a solid and a gas. Liquid forms when a solid melts, or a gas condenses.
    • More precisely, as OED says: (meaning a. s.v. liquid: "Said of a material substance in that condition (familiar as the normal condition of water, oil, alcohol, etc.) in which its particles move freely over each other (so that its masses have no determinate shape), but do not tend to separate as do those of a gas; not solid nor gaseous. Hence, composed of a substance in this condition."
    • Even more precisely, Daintith (2008) has it as: "A phase of matter between that of a crystalline solid and a gas. In a liquid, the large-scale three-dimensional atomic (or ionic or molecular) regularity of the solid is absent but, on the other hand, so is the total disorganization of the gas. Although liquids have been studied for many years there is still no comprehensive theory of the liquid state. It is clear, however, from diffraction studies that there is a short-range structural regularity extending over several molecular diameters. These bundles of ordered atoms, molecules, or ions move about in relation to each other, enabling liquids to have almost fixed volumes, which adopt the shape of their containers."
  • Liquid has developed several figurative meanings from this central one, including 'watery', 'tearful', 'transparent' and 'not fixed'. In academic writing, two subjects have given special meanings to liquid:
    • In economics, liquid assets are those that may quickly be transformed - cash, or those possessions that may quickly be sold (= 'converted into cash'). Hence liquidity is a measure of how quickly a business, or other economic institution, can realize its assets, and a liquidator is a person whose job it is to liquidate, or close, a business by converting all its assets into cash. This has become, in crime fiction, etc, a euphemism for 'assassin': a professional killer who seeks to liquidate, or kill, a given target. This usage is taken from sensational accounts of Soviet espionage techniques: the usage comes from the Russian ликвидировать (likvidírovat), 'to liquidate', 'wind up'.]
    • In phonetics, a liquid is one of as group of consonants. AWE follows the majority of writers in using the term only about '-l-' and '-r-' in English, although the dark '-l-' (//ɫ/), which is used in Welsh, Baltic and Slavonic languages, appears in some accents of English. You may want to see more at liquid (phonetics).