Definitions

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

  • noun A white solid fatty acid, C12H24O2, obtained chiefly from coconut and laurel oils and used in making soaps, cosmetics, esters, and lauryl alcohol.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • (Chem.) a white, crystalline substance, CH3.(CH2)10.COOH, resembling palmitic acid, and obtained from the fruit of the bay tree, and various other vegetable sources. The sodium salt (sodium lauryl sulfate) is used as a detergent.

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

  • noun chemistry a fatty acid, CH3(CH2)10COOH, occurring in coconut, palm and laurel oil; mostly used in making cosmetics and soaps

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a crystalline fatty acid occurring as glycerides in natural fats and oils (especially coconut oil and palm-kernel oil)

Etymologies

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

[Latin laurus, laurel + –ic.]

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