Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MAC'ER-ATE, v.t. [L. macero, from macer, thin, lean; maceo, to be thin or lean; Fr. maigre; Eng. meager; It. macro; Sp. magro; probably allied to Eng. meek, Ch. מאך. Class Mg, No. 2, 9.]

1. To make lean; to wear away. Harvey.
2. To mortify; to harass with corporeal hardships; to cause to pine or waste away. Out of excessive zeal they macerate their bodies and impair their health. Fiddes.
3. To steep almost to solution; to soften and separate the parts of a substance by steeping it in a fluid, or by the digestive process. So we say, food is macerated in the stomach.