lauric acid

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)