Definitions

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

  • noun A fatty solid butter substitute consisting of a blend of hydrogenated vegetable oils mixed with emulsifiers, vitamins, coloring matter, and other ingredients.

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

  • noun A processed food product used as an inexpensive substitute for butter, made primarily from refined vegetable oils, sometimes including animal fats, and churned with skim milk to form a semisolid emulsion; also called oleomargarine; artificial butter.
  • noun Margarin.

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

  • noun A spread, manufactured from a blend of vegetable oils (some of which are hydrogenated), emulsifiers etc, mostly used as a substitute for butter.

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

  • noun a spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter

Etymologies

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

[French, from Greek margaron, pearl, probably back-formation from margarītēs; see margarite.]

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Examples

  • The term margarine may have been coined by Hippolyte Mège-Mouries but, it may have taken him quite a bit longer to concoct his invention if it hadn't been for the isolation process of fatty acids by Michel Eugène Chevreul, a true innovator in his own right who is credited with many chemical discoveries.

    Fooling Around with Fatty Acids ~~louise~~ 2008

  • The term margarine may have been coined by Hippolyte Mège-Mouries but, it may have taken him quite a bit longer to concoct his invention if it hadn't been for the isolation process of fatty acids by Michel Eugène Chevreul, a true innovator in his own right who is credited with many chemical discoveries.

    Archive 2008-07-01 ~~louise~~ 2008

  • Butter producers objected and by virtue of the Margarine Act of 1886, the term margarine became the official "legal" term rather than butterine.

    Fooling Around with Fatty Acids ~~louise~~ 2008

  • Butter producers objected and by virtue of the Margarine Act of 1886, the term margarine became the official "legal" term rather than butterine.

    Archive 2008-07-01 ~~louise~~ 2008

  • “Oleo,” from the Latin oleum oil, was attached as a prefix to the word margarine and was commonly part of the name until after World War II.

    Trans Fats M.A. Judith Shaw 2004

  • “Oleo,” from the Latin oleum oil, was attached as a prefix to the word margarine and was commonly part of the name until after World War II.

    Trans Fats M.A. Judith Shaw 2004

  • “Oleo,” from the Latin oleum oil, was attached as a prefix to the word margarine and was commonly part of the name until after World War II.

    Trans Fats M.A. Judith Shaw 2004

  • Continue working the dough with the dough hook, slowly beating in margarine cubes one at a time.

    Archive 2009-10-01 Sarah 2009

  • Continue working the dough with the dough hook, slowly beating in margarine cubes one at a time.

    Bibbity Bobbity Babka Sarah 2009

  • If I carefully select my margarine, the effort that goes into researching which margarine is best is not wasted, since I alone have control over the outcome and I can guarantee that the outcome reflects whatever level of consideration I gave it.

    Analogy for Government, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

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