The process of cooling and maintaining low temperatures to preserve food and other perishables. A system or method of artificial cooling using mechanical or chemical means.
From Latin 'refrigerare' meaning 'to make cool or cold,' from 're-' (again) + 'frigus' (cold). The modern concept developed with 18th-century ice houses, but mechanical refrigeration revolutionized food storage and urban life in the 19th-20th centuries.
Refrigeration quietly transformed human civilization more than almost any other technology - it enabled cities to grow far from farmland, changed what we eat year-round, and even influenced architecture (smaller kitchens, different food storage). Before it, ice was literally harvested from frozen lakes and shipped worldwide like precious cargo.
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