look up a word or phrase
What does paraffin mean?
dict.sorabji.com . wordswarm . browse words

PARAFFIN DEFINITIONS - 8 definitions found


WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005)

paraffin n 1: from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings [syn: paraffin, paraffin wax] 2: a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2) [syn: methane series, alkane series}, alkane, paraffin series, paraffin] 3: (British usage) kerosine [syn: paraffin, paraffin oil]

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003)

paraffin noun Etymology: German, from Latin parum too little (akin to Greek pauros little, paid-, pais child) + affinis bordering on — more at few, affinity Date: 1838 1. a. a waxy crystalline flammable substance obtained especially from distillates of wood, coal, petroleum, or shale oil that is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and is used chiefly in coating and sealing, in candles, in rubber compounding, and in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics b. any of various mixtures of similar hydrocarbons including mixtures that are semisolid or oily 2. alkane 3. chiefly British keroseneparaffinic adjective




Oxford English Reference Dictionary

paraffin
n.
1 an inflammable waxy or oily substance obtained by distillation from petroleum or shale, used in liquid form (also paraffin oil) esp. as a fuel.
2 Chem. = ALKANE.
Phrases and idioms:
paraffin wax paraffin in its solid form.
Etymology: G (1830) f. L parum little + affinis related, from the small affinity it has for other substances


Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary

paraffin 1. Paraffin is a strong-smelling liquid which is used as a fuel in heaters, lamps, and engines. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use kerosene) ...a paraffin lamp. N-UNCOUNT 2. Paraffin wax, or in American English paraffin, is a white wax obtained from petrol or coal. It is used to make candles and in beauty treatments. N-UNCOUNT

English Explanatory Dictionary

paraffin ˈpærəfɪn n. 1 an inflammable waxy or oily substance obtained by distillation from petroleum or shale, used in liquid form (also paraffin oil) esp. as a fuel. 2 Chem. = ALKANE. øparaffin wax paraffin in its solid form. [G (1830) f. L parum little + affinis related, from the small affinity it has for other substances]

The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907)

Paraffin name given by Baron Reichenbach to a transparent crystalline substance obtained by distillation from wood, bituminous coal, shale, &c., and so called because it resists the action of the strongest acids and alkalies.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Paraffin \Par"af*fin\, Paraffine \Par"af*fine\, n. [F. paraffine, fr. L. parum too little + affinis akin. So named in allusion to its chemical inactivity.] (Chem.) A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc., by distillation. It is used as an illuminant and lubricant. It is very inert, not being acted upon by most of the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus coal gas and kerosene consist largely of paraffins. Note: In the present chemical usage this word is spelt paraffin, but in commerce it is commonly spelt paraffine. Native paraffin. See Ozocerite. Paraffin series. See Methane series, under Methane.

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

63 Moby Thesaurus words for "paraffin": alcohol, avgas, benzine, briquette, burnable, butane, carbon, charcoal, coal, coal oil, coke, combustible, crude, crude oil, dope, electricity, ethane, ethanol, ethyl, ethyl gas, fireball, firing, flammable, flammable material, fossil oil, fuel, fuel additive, fuel dope, gas, gas carbon, gasoline, heptane, hexane, high-octane gas, high-test, illuminant, illuminating gas, inflammable, inflammable material, isooctane, jet fuel, kerosene, lead-free gas, light source, low-lead gas, luminant, methane, methanol, motor oil, natural gas, octane, oil, peat, pentane, petrol, petroleum, premium gas, propane, propellant, regular, rock oil, rocket fuel, turf


look up a word or phrase





Recently Viewed Words
What is this?
incitatus
C6H12O6
copulate
burdock
Lace-winged
Fungia
Lymphitis
Pudendum
Canarese
lapidator
reel
pedogenetic
cognitive
Sovietologist
Adstringent
pummel
gadab
interposition
UTOPIA
paragoge
antiphon
empanel
satpura range
gorebill
bilobed
Rament
skoal
quadrat
unrespect
Politician
teschen
transgressor
Isopod
homonym
weather
Cana
Mannishly
Elocution
1ST
zerda


Recently Viewed Cities at my Weather Station
ROOTSTOWN, OH
ROSE HILL, VA
HIGHLAND FALLS, NY
HARRISBURG, PA
ZELLWOOD, FL
PHILLIPS, ME
CULVER CITY, CA
BARNEGAT, NJ
SUNCOOK, NH
NESHANIC STATION, NJ
SMITHVILLE, GA
EXETER, NE
ROCKMART, GA
COLTS NECK, NJ
DALLAS, TX
WOODSTOCK, VA
EULESS, TX
SIMSBURY, CT
ZIRCONIA, NC
MONKTON, MD
JACKSON HEIGHTS, NY
FULTON, MS
MARKHAM, TX
BANGOR, PA
WARRENSBURG, NY
HOPEWELL, VA
LEESBURG, VA
MIAMI, AZ
DIX, IL


Some of my
other projects

Handwritten Receipts
My Receipts
Random Receipt
The Big Pictures
Found Photos
Stories and Things
Zebra
Payphone Project
Mailbox Locator
Universal WHOIS Lookup
Daily Receipt
What Is My IP Address?
Godfather at Calvary
BBS
Sorabji.com

Photo Galleries
Telephone Exchange Names
Film Photography
Who Are These People?
U.S. Forces in Germany
A Midwest Family
An Ohio Family
Baby Carriages
Eyes in the Sidewalk
Typos, Engrish, etc.
Faces of Laos
Faded Signs
Signage
Brooklyn Bridge
Stuff People Write on Money
Nebraska Road Trip, 2002
Payphones of the World
Random Picture

Stories & Things
Rotary Dial
Plain Sight
Seeing Things
Hot New Camera
Film Photography
Megatouch at Hammacher Schlemmer
Stuffed
Basement
Synaptic Theater
Prodigies
Corporata
Times Square, Then and Now
Anti-Possession
Boatyard
Exile
Telephone Exchange Name Sightings
Florida Waterfront
Unfinished Thoughts
Pacific Image PowerSlide 3650
Flag Blowing In the Wind




See if "paraffin" is a registered domain name
paraffin.com
paraffin.net
paraffin.org
paraffin.biz
paraffin.info
paraffin.mobi
paraffin.ai
paraffin.asia
paraffin.be
paraffin.ca
paraffin.cn
paraffin.co.uk
paraffin.tv
paraffin.cc
paraffin.eu
paraffin.im
paraffin.in
paraffin.im
paraffin.ir
paraffin.it
paraffin.jp
paraffin.co.nz
paraffin.sc
paraffin.co.th
paraffin.travel
paraffin.ws
Domain Name Search











Abandoned Baby Strollers











 

On most web browsers you can double click any word on this page to see what definitions I have for that word.

This dictionary server is not an authoratative source of information for anything. Like almost everything at sorabji.com, I set this up for my own purposes. In this case the purpose is to browse words and ideas at random. An automatically generated page that produces 1000 Random Words is my gateway to this resource. I also attempt a word of the day project, in which I attempt to write something about myself starting with interesting words that I find through the Wordswarm Random Words Pages. I have made available the complete 1828 Webster's Dictionary, which many feel is the greatest English dictionary ever published.

Other random links of mine include the Sorabji.com Random Link, which sends you to one of over 7,000 pages on my web sites; the Face Server produces random images of human faces; clicking the Random WAYD link shows you a random posting to my "What Are You Doing?" board; the Random USPS Mailbox link sends you to a page with information about a random mailbox; and the random pictures page page of sorabji.com shows one of over 11,000 random images any time you load the page. On an unrelated note, I have begun making several thousand pages of legal documents searchable.



 

 

dict.sorabji.com > wordswarm > browse words > paraffin
look up a word or phrase

 

Wander around sorabji.com: