vaseline

See also: Vaseline

English

Etymology

Coined by American chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough in 1872, from German Wasser (“water”) +‎ Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil”) +‎ -ine.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvæsəliːn/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Noun

vaseline (countable and uncountable, plural vaselines)

Petroleum jelly.
- 1930, Aldous Huxley, Brief Candles:
  Hearts of putty, hearts of vaseline...
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 […]
(informal) Ellipsis of Vaseline glass, or the coloring used in making it.

Synonyms

E905b when used as a food additive

Derived terms

Vaseline glass

Descendants

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

Translations

petroleum jelly

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

Verb

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