margarine

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A spread, manufactured from a blend of vegetable oils (some of which are hydrogenated), emulsifiers etc, mostly used as a substitute for butter.
  2. The solid ingredient of human fat, olive oil, etc.
verb
  1. To spread or cover (something) with margarine.

Pronunciation

/ˌmɑː.d͡ʒəˈɹiːn/ /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒ(ə.)ɹɪn/ /ˌmɑː.ɡəˈɹiːn/ /ˈmɑɹ.d͡ʒ(ə.)ɹɪn/ /ˈmɑɹ.d͡ʒəˌɹin/ en-us-margarine.ogg /ˈmaɾ.ɡɐ.ɾɪn/

Word forms

margarine margarines margarining margarined

Etymology

Borrowed from French margarine, from acide margarique (“margaric acid”), from Ancient Greek μάργαρον (márgaron, “pearl”), in allusion to its pearly lustre, with the suffix -ine, influenced by glycérine (“glycerine”). French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul named margaric acid after its pearl-like crystallization.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.