I work with biologists who often use the word "solubilize" to mean "dissolve".
Is this correct usage? I keep correcting them (I'm not a biologist, but I help with writing), and we've argued about it. Not all are native English speakers, so I've been attributing it to that. But maybe they're right. I want to know.
The context here is pharmacology - taking drugs in powder form and dissolving them in a vehicle for dosing lab animals.
I thought "solubilize" means to make something more soluble by adding (for example) soap. (for example: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/solubilisation ).
But they use "solubilize" to mean "dissolve". That usage doesn't seem to be standard English, but maybe it's normal usage as a term of art in pharmacology.
Is it?
For scientific writing in pharmacology, what is the standard usage? When we mean (standard English) "dissolve", which word should we be using, in order to be clearly understood and conform with standard professional terminology?
Added: Some of the commenters seem to misunderstand what I'm trying to ask, so I'll try to clarify.
I can read dictionaries as well as you can, and Google is my friend, too; I'm not asking what the standard dictionary definitions are (I already know).
I'm asking about how working biologists, English-speakers, use these words.
Do practicing biologists/pharmacologists use these terms differently than the standard English definitions? Are these "terms of art" in those fields, with a different definition? Or not?
Some of my colleagues insist that, in their field of biology/pharmacology, the word "solubilize" is used to mean what the dictionary says "dissolve" means. Are they correct, or are they mistaken (presumably because they're not native English speakers)?
I'm not a biologist and so don't know from personal experience. The people I work with are biologists but not native English speakers, so I'm not convinced they know either.
Thus, I'm asking here.
I've been asked for a sample sentence re how it's used. I don't see how that affects the answer, but here:
"Diphtheria toxin (List Biological Laboratories, Cat #150) was solubilized in sterile water at 2 mg/mL, aliquoted, and frozen at -20 C."
Is this correct usage or would "dissolved in sterile water" be better?