vaseline

English

Alternative forms

• Vaseline

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥

Proto-Germanic *watōr

Proto-West Germanic *watar

Old High German waȥȥar

Middle High German waȥȥer

German Wasser

Proto-Hellenic *élaiwon

Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion)

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusder.

Old French -inbor.

Middle English -in

English -ine

English vaseline

From German Wasser (“water”) +‎ Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil”) +‎ -ine. Genericized trademark of the Vaseline brand of petroleum jelly introduced by American chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough in 1872.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvæ.sə.liːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvæ.sə.lin/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

vaseline (countable and uncountable, plural vaselines)

1. Petroleum jelly.

   Synonym: E905b (when used as a food additive)

   • 1930, Aldous Huxley, Brief Candles:

     Hearts of putty, hearts of vaseline...

2. Any particular kind of petroleum jelly or of any similar lubricant.
   • 1882, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry:

     A Russian vaseline has been lately added to the many kinds of vaseline found in […]

3. (informal) Ellipsis of Vaseline glass, or the coloring used in making it.

Derived terms

• Vaseline glass

Descendants

• Chinese:
  • → Mandarin: 凡士林 (fánshìlín)
• → French: vaseline
  • → Turkish: vazelin
• → Irish: veasailín
• → Polish: wazelina
• → Thai: วาสลีน (wáat-sà-liin)
• → Spanish: vaselina

Translations

petroleum jelly

• Arabic: ڤازلين m (vazlīn), فازلين m (fazlīn)
• Belarusian: вазелі́н (be) m (vazjelín)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凡士林 (zh) (fánshìlín)

• Crimean Tatar: vazelin
• Czech: vazelína (cs) f
• Dutch: vaseline (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: vazelino
• Finnish: vaseliini (fi)
• French: vaseline (fr) f
• Georgian: ვაზელინი (vazelini)
• German: Vaseline (de) f, Vaselin n
• Greek: βαζελίνη (el) f (vazelíni)
• Greenlandic: punnerusaaq
• Indonesian: vaselin (id)
• Irish: veasailín m
• Italian: petrolato (it) m, vasellina f
• Japanese: ワセリン (ja) (waserin)
• Kabuverdianu: vazulina
• Macedonian: вазелин m (vazelin)
• Marathi: वॅसेलीन n (vĕselīn)
• Navajo: akʼah łitsooígíí
• Persian: وازلین (fa) (vâzelin)
• Polish: wazelina (pl) f
• Romanian: vaselină (ro) f
• Russian: вазели́н (ru) m (vazelín)
• Spanish: vaselina (es) f
• Swedish: vaselin (sv) n
• Tagalog: baselina
• Tatar: вазелин (wazelin)
• Thai: วาสลีน (wáat-sà-liin)
• Turkish: vazelin (tr)
• Ukrainian: вазелі́н (uk) m (vazelín)

Verb

vaseline (third-person singular simple present vaselines, present participle vaselining, simple past and past participle vaselined)

1. (transitive) To lubricate with vaseline.

   Even at this late date, vaselining will preserve the best of these leathers.

Translations

to lubricate with vaseline

• Finnish: voidella vaseliinilla

Anagrams

• leave-ins

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English vaseline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaː.səˈli.nə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: va‧se‧li‧ne
• Rhymes: -inə

Noun

vaseline f (plural vaselines, no diminutive)

1. vaseline, petroleum jelly, petrolatum

   Synonym: petrolatum n

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English. Genericized trademark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaz.lin/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

vaseline f (uncountable)

1. vaseline

Descendants

• → Turkish: vazelin

Further reading

• “vaseline”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012