sublimation

[suhb-luh-mey-shuh n] /ˌsʌb ləˈmeɪ ʃən/
noun
1.
Psychology. the diversion of the energy of a sexual or other biological impulse from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable social, moral, or aesthetic nature or use.
2.
Chemistry. the act, fact, or process of subliming (def 9).
3.
a purification or refinement; ennoblement.
Related forms
sublimational, adjective
nonsublimation, noun
resublimation, noun
Examples from the web for sublimation
  • Drop the pressure on a piece of ice far enough, and it will turn straight into water vapor, a process called sublimation.
  • The white, on the other hand, is a liquid that exists in sublimation to its mate.
  • But it's actually the result of millennia, maybe millions of years, of constant annual atmospheric deposition and sublimation.
  • Likewise for evaporation of back holes, or sublimation of solids, crystalline or amorphous.
British Dictionary definitions for sublimation

sublimation

/ˌsʌblɪˈmeɪʃən/
noun
1.
(in Freudian psychology) the diversion of psychic energy derived from sexual impulses into nonsexual activity, esp of a creative nature
2.
the process or an instance of sublimating
3.
something sublimated
4.
(chem) the process or instance or subliming
Word Origin and History for sublimation
n.

late 14c., in alchemy, "process of purifying by heating into a vapor," from Medieval Latin sublimationem (nominative sublimatio) "refinement," literally "a lifting up, deliverance," from Latin sublimare "to raise, elevate," from sublimis "lofty" (see sublime). Psychological sense is first recorded 1910, probably influenced by subliminal.

sublimation in Medicine

sublimation sub·li·ma·tion (sŭb'lə-mā'shən)
n.

  1. The act or process of sublimating.

  2. Something that has been sublimated.

  3. An unconscious defense mechanism in which unacceptable instinctual drives and wishes are modified into more personally and socially acceptable channels.

sublimation in Science
sublimation
  (sŭb'lə-mā'shən)   
The process of changing from a solid to a gas without passing through an intermediate liquid phase. Carbon dioxide, at a pressure of one atmosphere, sublimates at about -78 degrees Celsius. Ice and snow on the Earth's surface also sublimate at temperatures below the freezing point of water. Compare deposition.
sublimation in Culture
sublimation [(sub-luh-may-shuhn)]

In Freudian psychology, a defense mechanism by which the individual satisfies a socially prohibited instinctive drive (usually sexual or aggressive) through the substitution of socially acceptable behavior. For example, someone with strong sexual drives who paints nude portraits may be engaging in sublimation.

sublimation [(sub-luh-may-shuhn)]

In chemistry, the direct conversion of a solid into a gas, without passage through a liquid stage. (See phases of matter.)