polyethylene
/pˌɑlˌiˈɛθəlˌin/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.97 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A polymer consisting of many ethylene monomers bonded together; used for kitchenware, containers etc.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "For eons, the debris has contained the same things — flecks from plant and animal carcasses, feces, mucus, dust, microbes, viruses — and transported the ocean’s carbon to be stored on the seafloor. Increasingly, however, marine snowfall is being infiltrated by microplastics: fibers and fragments of polyamide, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate. And this fauxfall appears to be altering our planet’s ancient cooling process."
- "The most abundant chemical in the plastics is polyethylene, which is used for single-use packaging, plastic bags and containers such as bottles."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ-der. Proto-Hellenic *áitʰō Ancient Greek αἴθω (aíthō) ▲ Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.? Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr)der. Latin aethērbor. German Äther German Ether Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.? Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der. German -yl German Ethylbor. English ethyl English eth- ▲ Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der. Frenchder. English -yl French -ènebor. English -ene English -ylene English ethylene English polyethylene From poly- + ethylene.
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
chlorinated polyethylene
chlorosulfonated polyethylene
cross-linked polyethylene
high-density polyethylene
low-density polyethylene
polyethylene glycol
polyethylene terephthalate