ricinoleic acid

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a colorless to yellow, viscous, liquid, water-insoluble, unsaturated hydroxyl acid, C 1 8 H 3 4 O 3 , occurring in castor oil in the form of the glyceride: used chiefly in soaps and textile finishing.

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ricinoleic acid British  

/ -ˈnəʊlɪɪk, ˌrɪsɪnəʊˈliːɪk /

noun

1. an oily unsaturated carboxylic acid found, as the glyceride, in castor oil and used in the manufacture of soap and in finishing textiles; 12-hydroxy-9-octadecanoic acid. Formula: C 18 H 34 O 3

2. the mixture of fatty acids obtained by hydrolysing castor oil

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Etymology

Origin of ricinoleic acid

First recorded in 1840–50