nylon

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a thermoplastic polyamide; a family of strong resilient synthetic fibers
  2. noun a synthetic fabric

Etymology

Coined by the company DuPont in 1938. According to the company, the name was formed from the random generic syllable nyl- + the common fiber suffix -on (as in rayon and Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton.

In classic literature

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading