gel
/d͡ʒɛl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.84 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or opal.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or opal.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A film of flexible transparent plastic (such as acetate, celluloid, or cellophane) suitable for making superimpositions or diapositives (image to overlay on other images, especially for overhead projectors); a digital virtual equivalent of this.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads."
- "Researchers have developed a new gel they say is as durable as metal, has the flexibility of jello, and could revolutionize how our bodies heal and age."
- "apple gel"
- "It ended, as it so often does, with that familiar smile. Cristiano Ronaldo – gelled hair, dazzling teeth, magic in his boots – will never forget the night he scored the 600th goal of an almost implausible career."
- "He was a nice guy, and I got on OK with his friends, but the two of us never really gelled."
- "We put our ideas together and they eventually gelled into a saleable product."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin gelāre Italian gelareder. Italian gelatinabor. French gélatinebor. English gelatinclip. English gel Coined by Thomas Graham in the mid 19th century as a clipping of gelatin, from French gélatine, from Italian gelatina, diminutive form of gelata (“iced”), from Latin gelata, past participle of gelo (“to freeze”), from gelu (“frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). For the meaning development compare with Russian сту́день (stúdenʹ, “aspic, jelly, gel”) related to студёный (studjónyj, “cold”).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: gélatine, gelatina, gelatus, *gel-