Definitions

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

  • noun A saturated fatty acid, C16H32O2, found in many natural oils and fats and used in making soap.

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

  • noun organic chemistry One of the most common saturated fatty acids; it is found in all animal and most vegetable oils and fats; it is used in the manufacture of soap etc.
  • noun organic chemistry hexadecanoic acid, CH3(CH2)14COOH

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

  • noun a saturated fatty acid that is the major fat in meat and dairy products

Etymologies

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

[French palmitique, from palmite, pith of the palm tree; see palmitin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French palmite ("pith of the palm tree") + -ic.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word palmitic acid.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.