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Synonyms

margarine

American  
[mahr-jer-in, -juh-reen, mahrj-rin] / ˈmɑr dʒər ɪn, -dʒəˌrin, ˈmɑrdʒ rɪn /

noun

  1. a butterlike product made of refined vegetable oils, sometimes blended with animal fats, and emulsified, usually with water or milk.

margarine British  
/ ˌmɑːdʒəˈriːn, ˌmɑːɡə- /

noun

  1. a substitute for butter, prepared from vegetable and animal fats by emulsifying them with water and adding small amounts of milk, salt, vitamins, colouring matter, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of margarine

1870–75; from French margarin, a glyceryl ester of margar(ic acid) ( def. ) + -in -ine 2

Explanation

Margarine is a butter substitute that's made from oil. One brand of margarine goes by the name "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Try it, and see if you can tell the difference... Margarine looks a lot like butter — it comes in sticks and in a very soft, spreadable form in a tub. Instead of the butterfat from milk being churned until it's solid (the process for making butter), margarine is made by emulsifying (thickly blending) oil with other fats and ingredients that make it creamy. Margarine was invented in the 1860s by a French scientist.

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Vocabulary lists containing margarine

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A sale would mark the biggest portfolio shake-up for Unilever since it was created nearly a century ago through the merger of Dutch group Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Bros.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

By 1900, a new industry was gobbling up all kinds of oils: Margarine was invented in 1869 by the French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès as a cheap alternative to butter.

From Salon • Jul. 4, 2021

Unilever’s Anglo-Dutch structure dates back to 1929 when British soap maker Lever Brothers combined with Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie.

From Reuters • Oct. 5, 2018

Lever Brothers and Dutch business Margarine Unie signed an agreement to create Unilever in 1929.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2017

Cheskin told his client to call their product Imperial Margarine, so they could put an impressive-looking crown on the package.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.