# mercerize

> English word · Verb

## Definitions
1. To treat (cotton fabric) with sodium hydroxide to make it more lustrous and accepting of dyes.

## Etymology
From Mercer + -ize, named after John Mercer of Great Harwood, Lancashire, who invented the process in the mid-19th century.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mercerize