[Vocabulary] Desalination and Desalinization

[MK22]

What are the differences between desalination and desalinization?

Is it referred to as the US and UK spelling?

 

[tedmc]

What are the differences between desalination and desalinization?

Is it referred to as the US and UK spelling? Are they BrE and AmE spelling respectively?

Yes, they are and mean the same thing.

 

[Skrej]

I wasn't aware the latter was even a real word, but apparently it's just a much, much less common term for the same thing.

I don't think its a spelling difference between AmE and BrE as much as it's just a two terms for the same thing, one of which is used far less. It's hard to find 'desalinization' without Google trying to assume you're misspelling 'desalination'. Switching the Ngram corpus between BrE and AmE doesn't change the results much. If if was merely a spelling difference, I'd expect to see the relative usage flip-flop as one switched between the different corpora. In both, 'desalinization' is barely used.

I like the third option offered here - 'desalting'.

 

[Tdol]

I have never come across the second form.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I have never come across the second form.

I have. I've also come across:

- orientate
- preventative
- obligate
- irregardless

 

[SoothingDave]

Someone's going to invent a "desalinizationator."

 

[emsr2d2]

I have. I've also come across:

- orientate
- preventative
- obligate
- irregardless

"Irregardless" is one of the most ridiculous words that's become horribly prevalent (and makes no sense, like "I could care less"). I agree that "orientate" (instead of "orient") and "preventative" (instead of "preventive") are very common. I assume, however, that you only have a problem with "obligate" when it's used instead of "oblige", rather than when it's quite correctly used as an adjective.