vaseline

See also: Vaseline

English

Etymology

Coined by American chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough in 1872, from German Wasser (“water”) +‎ Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil”) +‎ -ine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæsəliːn/

Noun

vaseline (countable and uncountable, plural vaselines)

1. Petroleum jelly.
   • 1930, Aldous Huxley, Brief Candles:

     Hearts of putty, hearts of vaseline...

2. Any particular kind of petroleum jelly or of any similar lubricant.
   • 1882, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry:

     A Russian vaseline has been lately added to the many kinds of vaseline found in […]

3. (informal) Short for Vaseline glass. or the colouring used in making it.

Synonyms

• E905b when used as a food additive

Derived terms

• Vaseline glass

Descendants

• Chinese:
  • → Mandarin: 凡士林 (fánshìlín)
• → French: vaseline
  • → Turkish: vazelin
• → Irish: veasailín
• → Polish: wazelina
• → Thai: วาสลีน (wáat-sà-liin)

Translations

petroleum jelly

• Arabic: ڤازلين m (vazlīn), فازلين m (fazlīn)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凡士林 (zh) (fánshìlín)

• Finnish: vaseliini (fi)
• French: vaseline (fr) f
• Georgian: ვაზელინი (vazelini)
• German: Vaseline (de) f, Vaselin n
• Greenlandic: punnerusaaq
• Indonesian: vaselin (id)
• Irish: veasailín m
• Italian: petrolato (it) m, vasellina f
• Japanese: ワセリン (ja) (waserin)
• Kabuverdianu: vazulina
• Marathi: वॅसेलीन n (vĕselīn)
• Navajo: akʼah łitsooígíí
• Persian: وازلین (fa) (vâzelin)
• Polish: wazelina (pl) f
• Romanian: vaselină (ro) f
• Russian: вазели́н (ru) m (vazelín)
• Swedish: vaselin (sv) n
• Tagalog: baselina
• Thai: วาสลีน (wáat-sà-liin)
• Turkish: vazelin (tr)

Verb

vaseline (third-person singular simple present vaselines, present participle vaselining, simple past and past participle vaselined)

1. To lubricate with vaseline.

   Even at this late date, vaselining will preserve the best of these leathers.

Translations

to lubricate with vaseline

• Finnish: voidella vaseliinilla

Anagrams

• leave-ins

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English. Genericized trademark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaz.lin/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

vaseline f (uncountable)

1. vaseline

Descendants

• → Turkish: vazelin

Further reading

• “vaseline”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.