[1940–45; sterile + -ant]This word is first recorded in the period 1940–45. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: black box, debrief, set-aside, silkscreen, update-ant is a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in Frenchand Latin loanwords (pleasant; constant; servant) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of” that namedby the stem (ascendant; pretendant), esp. in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or otherformal procedures (tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents (propellant; lubricant; deodorant). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant
Examples of 'sterilant' in a sentence
sterilant
Modified surface sterilization techniques using 3% surfactant and 70% sterilant were used to clean the explants before culturing.
Salisu Abubakar, Rebeccah Wusa Ndana 2016, 'Preliminary study of Endomycodiversity among three ethnomedicinal plants from familyMeliaceae in Nigeria', Journal of BioScience and Biotechnologyhttp://www.jbb.uni-plovdiv.bg/documents/27807/1703628/2016-5-2-195-201.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Sodium hypochloride was used as sterilant.
Sulistyani Pancaningtyas, Cahya Ismayadi 2011, 'Resterilization in cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) somatic embryogenesispropagation tosave contaminated embryos', Coffee and Cocoa Research Journalhttp://www.ccrjournal.com/index.php/ccrj/article/view/141. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)