plastic
pronunciation
How to pronounce plastic in British English:
UK [ˈplæstɪk]
How to pronounce plastic in American English:
US [ˈplæstɪk]
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- Noun:
- generic name for certain synthetic or semisynthetic materials that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or filaments or used for making e.g. coatings and adhesives
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- Adjective:
- used of the imagination
- capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material)
- capable of being influenced or formed
Word Origin
- plastic
- plastic: [16] Plastic is etymologically a ‘mouldable’ substance. The word comes via French plastique and Latin plasticus from Greek plastikós ‘fit for moulding’, a derivative of the verb plássein ‘mould’ (source also of English plasma [18] and plaster). Up until the 20th century its main use in English was as an adjective, meaning ‘pliable’. The first record of its use for a ‘synthetic material made from organic compounds’ comes from 1909. The trade-name Plasticine was coined from it in the 1890s.=> plasma, plaster
- plastic (n.)
- 1905, "solid substance that can be molded," originally of dental molds, from plastic (adj.). Main current meaning, "synthetic product made from oil derivatives," first recorded 1909, coined by Leo Baekeland (see bakelite).
- plastic (adj.)
- 1630s, "capable of shaping or molding," from Latin plasticus, from Greek plastikos "able to be molded, pertaining to molding, fit for molding," also in reference to the arts, from plastos "molded, formed," verbal adjective from plassein "to mold" (see plasma). Surgical sense of "remedying a deficiency of structure" is first recorded 1839 (in plastic surgery). Meaning "made of plastic" is from 1909. Picked up in counterculture slang with meaning "false, superficial" (1963). Plastic explosive (n.) attested from 1894.
Example
- 1. Likewise , the firm plastic buttons all click satisfyingly .
- 2. The service has been a particular boon for smaller merchants who don 't normally take plastic .
- 3. Some ob-gyns and psychologists refer patients to plastic surgeons .
- 4. When mixed with wax , it makes a plastic explosive .
- 5. She quit buying plastic ware for her kitchen . She shopped for local produce .