Adjacent Words

paraffin definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

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 kerosene • paraffinic adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

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. 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.

Moby Thesaurus

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