Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Saponification
Sa·pon′i·fi·ca′tion, n. [Cf. F. saponification. See Saponify.] The act, process, or result, of soap making; conversion into soap; specifically (Chem.), the decomposition of fats and other ethereal salts by alkalies; as, the saponification of ethyl acetate.