adhesive

See also: adhésive and adhésivé

English

Alternative forms

• adhæsive (obsolete)

Etymology

From French adhésif, from Medieval Latin adhaesivus, from adhaereō (supine adhaesum); see adhere.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ədˈhiː.sɪv/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ədˈhi.sɪv/, /ædˈhi.sɪv/

  • Audio (US); [ɛdˈhi.sɪv]:

    (file)

  • Audio (Texas); [ɛdˈhi.sɪv]:

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ədˈhiː.sɪv/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ədˈhiː.səv/

Adjective

adhesive (comparative more adhesive, superlative most adhesive)

1. Sticky; tenacious, as glutinous substances.

   adhesive material

   adhesive tape

2. Apt or tending to adhere; clinging.

Synonyms

• (sticky): claggy, tenacious; see also Thesaurus:adhesive

Derived terms

• adhesive capsulitis
• adhesively
• adhesivemeter
• adhesiveness
• adhesive tape
• adhesivity
• antiadhesive
• bioadhesive
• coadhesive
• counteradhesive
• cytoadhesive
• denture adhesive
• hot melt adhesive
• hyperadhesive
• mucoadhesive
• multiadhesive
• nonadhesive
• proadhesive
• readhesive
• self-adhesive
• thermoadhesive
• unadhesive

Related terms

• adhere
• adherence
• adherent
• coherent
• inherent

Translations

sticky

• Bulgarian: ле́пкав (bg) (lépkav), лепли́в (bg) (leplív)
• Catalan: adhesiu (ca)
• Dutch: adhesief
• Esperanto: gluebla
• Finnish: tarttuva (fi), kiinnittyvä, adhesiivinen
• French: adhésif (fr), collant (fr)
• Galician: adhesivo
• German: klebend (de), adhäsiv (de)
• Indonesian: adhesif (id)
• Irish: greamaitheach
• Latin: adhaesivus
• Lithuanian: lipnus
• Ottoman Turkish: یاپشقان (yapışkan)
• Persian: چَسبان (fa) (časbân)
• Portuguese: adesivo (pt)
• Russian: кле́йкий (ru) (kléjkij), ли́пкий (ru) (lípkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanmhainn, leanailteach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: самолепљив

  Roman: samolepljiv (sh)

• Spanish: adhesivo (es)
• Swedish: vidhäftande (sv)
• Welsh: adlynol (cy)

clinging

• Catalan: adhesiu (ca)
• Finnish: tarttuva (fi), kiinnittyvä, adhesiivinen
• German: klebrig (de)
• Portuguese: aderente (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanmhainn, leanailteach

Noun

adhesive (countable and uncountable, plural adhesives)

1. a substance, such as glue, that provides or promotes adhesion

   The label wouldn’t stick without strong adhesive.

   They used an adhesive to repair the broken vase.

   The company developed a new kind of waterproof adhesive.

Translations

substance that provides or promotes adhesion

• Belarusian: клей (kljej)
• Bulgarian: лепи́ло (bg) n (lepílo), тутка́л (bg) m (tutkál)
• Catalan: adhesiu (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黏合劑 / 黏合剂 (zh) (niánhéjì)

• Finnish: sidosaine, liima (fi), sideaine (fi)
• French: adhésif (fr) m
• Galician: adesivo (gl) m, engrudo m, cola (gl) f
• German: Klebstoff (de) m, Kleber (de) m, Leim (de) m
• Irish: ábhar greamaitheach m, greamachán m
• Italian: adesivo (it) m
• Japanese: 接着剤 (ja) (せっちゃくざい, setchakuzai)
• Korean: 접착제(接着劑) (jeopchakje)
• Latin: adhaesivus m
• Portuguese: adesivo (pt) m
• Russian: клей (ru) m (klej)
• Spanish: adhesivo (es) m
• Swedish: klister (sv) n
• Ukrainian: клей m (klej)
• Welsh: adlyn m

Further reading

• “adhesive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “adhesive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.