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Glite Dictionary
lauryl alcohol

lauryl alcohol

8.1
A long oily ingredient that makes soaps and shampoos foam
  • noun
  • /ˈlɔːrɪl ˈæl.kə.hɔːl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : alcohol laurílico
  • Many shampoos contain lauryl alcohol to help create a rich lather.

Examples

  • Many detergents contain lauryl alcohol as an ingredient.

  • The chemist analyzed the properties of lauryl alcohol.

  • Because of its surfactant properties, lauryl alcohol is widely used in the cosmetics industry.

  • The production process relies on lauryl alcohol as a key raw material.

  • Because of its surfactant properties, lauryl alcohol is widely used in the cosmetics industry.

  • Many shampoos contain lauryl alcohol to help create a rich lather.

  • The production process relies on lauryl alcohol as a key raw material.

Synonyms

1-dodecanol
vslauryl alcohol
  • Specialized
9.9

A colorless solid alcohol that does not dissolve in water used to make detergents and medicines

is the common or alternative name for that same chemical

Surface Forms

lauryl alcohol singular
lauryl alcohols plural

Morphology

lauryl + alcohol

The term is fully compositional: 'lauryl' denotes a C12 (dodecyl) alkyl substituent and 'alcohol' denotes an –OH-bearing organic molecule, so 'lauryl alcohol' straightforwardly means the alcohol having a lauryl/dodecyl group. Chemical compound names follow regular, predictable formation patterns (cross-linguistically consistent), so a learner who knows both constituents can derive the meaning.

Etymology

Lauryl alcohol likely gets its name from 'laurel', the bay tree. Early chemists used lauryl for the long, oily part because similar oils were found in laurel and related plants, and they added alcohol to show it is a chemical 'alcohol', so the name points to a long, oil-like alcohol used in soaps and shampoos.