fermentation

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a state of agitation or turbulent change or development
noun a process in which an agent causes an organic substance to break down into simpler substances; especially, the anaerobic breakdown of sugar into alcohol

From Middle English fermentacioun, from Latin fermentātiō, fermentātiōnem. By surface analysis, ferment + -ation.

Philosophical fermentation replied to democratic fermentation. — Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
They were the sort of thing which required fermentation to render them effective. — Two on a Tower, Thomas Hardy
Decaying vegetation may occasionally smoulder with the heat of its fermentation, but this rarely results in flame. — The Time Machine, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

agitation, ferment, tempestuousness, unrest

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