tī.ˈtrāshən noun
( -s )
Etymology: titer + -ation
1. : a determination of the reactive capacity usually of a solution ; especially : the analytical process of successively adding from a burette measured amounts of a reagent (as a standard solution) to a known volume of a sample in solution or a known weight of a sample until a desired end point (as a color change or a large change in potential of the solution) is reached
acid-base titration
oxidation-reduction titration
electrometric titrations
— see indicator 2a
2. : a process of making mixtures of decreasing amounts of one substance usually in solution with unvarying amounts of another, until a mixture which contains the smallest amount of the substance still produces the desired effect (as precipitation, agglutination, or neutralization) or contains the two reagents in optimum proportions as determined by adding an indicator (as a hemolytic system in the Wassermann reaction or agglutinable cells in some virus titrations), or by animal or tissue culture inoculation (as in titration of toxins and viruses), or by observing the times of reaction (as in optimum proportions titrations)