ˌdistəˈlāshən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English distillacioun, from Latin distillation-, distillatio, from distillatus (past participle of distillare to distill) + -ion-, -io -ion
1. : the process of driving off gas or vapor from liquids or solids by heating (as in a still or retort) and condensing to liquid products, such processes being used especially for purification, fractionation, or the formation of new substances by decomposition : rectification — see azeotropic distillation , destructive distillation , extractive distillation , molecular distillation ; compare evaporation , sublimation
2. : distillate
every paragraph is a distillation of wide reading, sound judgment, and unemotional reasoning — Times Literary Supplement
these translations … can be accepted as genuine distillations of the Orient — G.P.Meyer