nonylphenol

N1O1N1Y4L1P3H4E1N1O1L1

noun

Any of a family of closely related organic compounds, a subset of the alkylphenols, that are precursors to commercially important detergents.

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Meanings

nounnonylphenol (plural nonylphenols)

plural nonylphenols

  1. chemistryAny of a family of closely related organic compounds, a subset of the alkylphenols, that are precursors to commercially important detergents.

    Make sure you don’t use detergents with phosphates or nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants, but that information is rarely available on the labels.

    2009 February 26, Julie Scelfo, “When It Comes to Detergents, What’s the Least Irresponsible Choice?”, in New York Times

Origin

From nonyl + phenol.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nonylphenol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonylphenol

MLA

“nonylphenol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonylphenol. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonylphenol,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonylphenol.

Source: nonylphenol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.