Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Glycerin
/ˈɡlɪsərɪn/noun
A thick, colourless, sweet-tasting alcohol obtained from fats and oils, used in food, cosmetics, medicines and explosives.
The Greek roots
γλυκερός
glykerós
sweet
Literally: “the sweet one”
Follow a root:γλυκερός1 word
The story of the word
Michel Chevreul named it in 1811 while taking soap apart, and he named it for the taste: the stuff really is sweet on the tongue. The same γλυκύς family gives glucose, glycogen and liquorice, which is γλυκύρριζα, 'sweet root'. Ascanio Sobrero nitrated it in 1847 and produced something considerably less friendly.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
glucoseglycogennitroglycerinliquorice
In a sentence
A drop of glycerin keeps the icing from cracking.