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carnauba wax

carnauba wax

8.1
A hard yellowish wax from a palm used to make surfaces shiny and protect them
  • noun
  • /ˌkɑrnəˈubə ˈwæks/
translation icon : cera de carnauba
  • The floor had a brilliant shine after being polished with carnauba wax.

Examples

  • Many car care products contain carnauba wax to protect and enhance vehicle paint.

  • Bakers often use carnauba wax to coat candies and give them a glossy finish.

  • I applied carnauba wax to the wooden floor.

  • The carnauba wax gives the furniture a beautiful shine.

  • Many car care products contain carnauba wax to protect and enhance vehicle paint.

  • The floor had a brilliant shine after being polished with carnauba wax.

  • Bakers often use carnauba wax to coat candies and give them a glossy finish.

Synonyms

carnauba
vscarnauba wax
1 9.9

A hard yellow wax made from palm leaves used in polishes, food, and cosmetics

has identical meaning but is written with an extra noun at the end

How Hard

carnauba wax
8.1
wax
187 2.8
beeswax
15 3.3

Surface Forms

carnauba wax singular

Morphology

carnauba + wax

The compound is directly compositional: 'carnauba' names the source/type (the wax from the carnauba palm) and 'wax' names the substance, so the phrase simply denotes wax obtained from carnauba. This type-of noun phrase is a transparent, common compositional pattern and would be immediately understandable to learners who know both constituent words.

Etymology

Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of the carnauba palm in Brazil. People scrape and heat the leaves to get a hard plant wax that gives a bright shine and helps 'protect' surfaces, so today carnauba wax means a natural wax used to 'shine' and 'protect' things.