nylon
pronunciation
How to pronounce nylon in British English:
UK [ˈnaɪlɒn]
How to pronounce nylon in American English:
US [ˈnaɪlɑːn]
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- Noun:
- a thermoplastic polyamide; a family of high-strength resilient synthetic materials
- a synthetic fabric
Word Origin
- nylon
- nylon: [20] English has a long history of naming fabrics after their places of origin: denim from Nîmes, for instance, muslin from Mosul, and calico from Calicut in India. It is not surprising, therefore, that the popular myth has grown up that nylon took its name from New York (ny-) and London (-lon). The truth, however, is more prosaic. Du Pont, nylon’s inventors, took the element -on (as in cotton and rayon) and simply added the arbitrary syllable nyl-. The word was coined in 1938, and its plural was in use for ‘nylon stockings’ as early as 1940.
- nylon (n.)
- 1938, coined, according to DuPont, from random generic syllable nyl- + -on, common ending in fiber names (compare rayon), said to be ultimately from cotton. Use (in plural) for "nylon stockings" is from 1940.
Example
- 1. There were printed instructions tucked inside a sheer nylon sleeve .
- 2. Television and nylon stockings were invented .
- 3. It is easy to spot them , in their nylon tracksuits .
- 4. Some designers are already printing ready-to-wear shoes and dresses from plastic and nylon materials .
- 5. They bought nylon cloth in small batches and constructed their own hot air balloon .