decrepitate

1. (transitive) To roast (a salt or mineral) until it stops crackling in the fire.Examples: "so will it come to pass in a pot of salt, although decrepitated; and so also in a pot of Snow."transitive

2. (intransitive) Of salts and minerals, to crackle when heated, indicating a sudden breakdown of their particles.Examples: "It is, however, remarkable, that the greater number of bodies which decrepitate, are really anhydrous and fixed, such as sulphate of potash, sulphate of barytes, chloride of sodium, &c."; "That substance was called salt, because, according to some authors, it is obtained by the action of the sun (sol) on sea-water, according to others, because it decrepitates in the fire (exsilire=to crackle and spring about)."intransitive