Etymology

cosmoline

C3O1S1M3O1L1I1N1E1

Today it means: A substance obtained from the residues of the distillation of petroleum, essentially the same as vaseline, but of somewhat stiffer consistency, and consisting of a mixture of the higher paraffins. Full definition →

Latin oleum
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromoleum“oil”
  2. English todaycosmoline

Probably from cosmetic + Latin oleum (“oil”).

Words from the same roots

Latinoleum all →

oiloleumcardolerythroleic acidleucoline-ol-ola-oleoleiferousoleo-oleosaccharumphenetolpinacolinrhigolenesalicylolserolinsinapoline

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.