Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of a class of emulsifiers used in food preparation and in some pharmaceuticals.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry any of a class of emulsifiers used as food additives and in pharmaceutical preparations; they are derived from sorbitan (typically with three polyoxyethylene side-chains) esterified with a fatty acid; they are mostly oily liquids, or soft solids

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[poly– + sorbate, salt or ester of sorbitol (sorb(itol) + –ate).]

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