Meaning

verb separate into constituents by soaking

verb become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking

verb soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result

originFirst attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0