glycerol

[glis-uh-rawl, -rol]

noun

a colorless, odorless, syrupy, sweet liquid, C3H8O3, usually obtained by the saponification of natural fats and oils: used for sweetening and preserving food, in the manufacture of cosmetics, perfumes, inks, and certain glues and cements, as a solvent and automobile antifreeze, and in medicine in suppositories and skin emollients.

Origin of glycerol

First recorded in 1880–85; glycer(in) + -ol¹

Also called glycerin, glycerine.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for glycerol

Historical Examples of glycerol

In some cases the fatty acids are combined with other bases than glycerol.
The Handbook of Soap Manufacture
W. H. Simmons
No glycollic acid, oxalic acid, glycol, or glycerol was produced.
Alcoholic Fermentation
Arthur Harden
Determine the acetin value of the residue at in terms of glycerol.
Soap-Making Manual
E. G. Thomssen
Caustic soda cannot be substituted for caustic potash in the glycerol method.
Soap-Making Manual
E. G. Thomssen
After correcting for the blank, calculate the result to glycerol.
Soap-Making Manual
E. G. Thomssen

British Dictionary definitions for glycerol

glycerol

noun

a colourless or pale yellow odourless sweet-tasting syrupy liquid; 1,2,3-propanetriol: a by-product of soap manufacture, used as a solvent, antifreeze, plasticizer, and sweetener (E422). Formula: C 3 H 8 O 3Also called (not in technical usage): glycerine, glycerin

Word Origin for glycerol

C19: from glycer (ine) + -ol 1

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

Word Origin and History for glycerol

1884, from glycerine + -ol, suffix denoting alcohols.

glycerol in Medicine

glycerol

[glĭs′ə-rôl′, -rōl′]

n.

A sweet syrupy fluid obtained by the saponification of fats and fixed oils, used as a solvent, a skin emollient, and as a vehicle and sweetening agent; it is also used by injection or in suppository form for constipation and orally to reduce ocular tension.

glycerol in Science

glycerol

[glĭs′ə-rôl′]

A sweet, syrupy liquid obtained from animal fats and oils or by the fermentation of glucose. It is used as a solvent, sweetener, and antifreeze and in making explosives and soaps. Glycerol consists of a propane molecule attached to three hydroxyl (OH) groups. Also called glycerin, glycerine. Chemical formula: C3H8O3.