MARGARIC

Etymology

Adjective

margaric (comparative more margaric, superlative most margaric)

Pertaining to pearl or pearls (rare except in the designation of margaric acid)

Source: Wiktionary


Mar*gar"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. margarique. See Margarite.]

Definition: Pertaining to, or resembling, pearl; pearly. Margaric acid. (a) (Physiol. Chem.) A fatty body, crystallizing in pearly scales, and obtained by digesting saponified fats (soaps) with an acid. It was formerly supposed to be an individual fatty acid, but is now known to be simply an intimate mixture of stearic and palmitic acids. (b) (Chem.) A white, crystalline substance, C17H34O2 of the fatty acid series, intermediate between palmitic and stearic acids, and obtained from the wax of certain lichens, from cetyl cyanide, and other sources.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

11 February 2025

ALEWIFE

(noun) shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

coffee icon