maleic acid

American

[muh-lee-ik] / məˈli ɪk /

noun

Chemistry.

a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble solid, C 4 H 4 O 4 , isomeric with fumaric acid, having an astringent, repulsive taste and faint acidulous odor: used in the manufacture of synthetic resins, the dyeing and finishing of textiles, and as a preservative for fats and oils.

maleic acid British

/ məˈleɪɪk /

noun

Systematic name: cis-butanedioic acid. a colourless soluble crystalline substance used to synthesize other compounds. Formula: HOOCCH:CHCOOH

"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

maleic acid Scientific

/ mə-lē′ĭk /

A colorless crystalline acid used in textile processing and as an oil and fat preservative. Maleic acid is a geometric isomer of fumaric acid, having two carboxyl groups (COOH) on the same side of an ethylene chain. Chemical formula: C ₄ H ₄ O ₄ .

Etymology

Origin of maleic acid

1870–75; < French maléique, alteration of malique malic

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maleic acid

Dr. Charles Raymond Downs, Manhattan consulting chemist who presented the wine-aging idea, passes a mixture of air and benzene over a catalyst to get maleic acid.

From Time Magazine Archive

Another product made from maleic acid is Succinic Acid, which occurs naturally in amber.

From Time Magazine Archive

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