neoprene
/ˈniɵpɹin/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.55 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, commonly used in wetsuits, laptop sleeves, orthopedic braces, electrical insulation, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes and flashings, car fan belts, etc.
Countable; Uncountable
Etymology
US, 1930s; genericized trademark for DuPont brand of polychloroprene. neo- (“new”) + isoprene (dropping the iso-), the latter from terpene. Originally called duprene (blend of DuPont and isoprene); the “new” is because neoprene was the first mass-produced general-purpose synthetic rubber.