paraffin C2 Topic:Science & Research Also spelled paraffine US /ˈpɛɹ.ə.fɪn/ UK /ˈpæɹ.ə.fɪn/ See IPA manual Freq #33197 Meanings 1 noun A petroleum-based thin and colourless fuel oil. She poured paraffin on the dry floors and on the pandanus-mats, and then she set fire. 2 noun (British usage) kerosine 3 noun a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2) 4 noun from crude petroleum Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a petroleum-based thin and... kerosene 2 noun · (british usage) kerosine paraffin oil 3 noun · a series of non-aromatic... alkanealkane seriesmethane series 4 noun · from crude petroleum paraffin wax Word family Derived forms chloroparaffincycloparaffindeparaffinatehistoparaffinisoparaffinnitroparaffinnonparaffinparafangoparaffinateparaffinicparaffinizationparaffinize Common collocations paraffin wax Noun + noun Etymology From Latin paraffinum, from parum (too little) + affinis (related, affinity). Therefore low affinity or being chemically neutral. Topics Science & Research External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # paraffin **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈpɛɹ.ə.fɪn/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈpæɹ.ə.fɪn/ **Frequency rank:** 33197 ## Meanings 1. A petroleum-based thin and colourless fuel oil. 2. (British usage) kerosine 3. a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2) 4. from crude petroleum ## Examples - She poured paraffin on the dry floors and on the pandanus-mats, and then she set fire. ## Derived Forms - chloroparaffin - cycloparaffin - deparaffinate - histoparaffin - isoparaffin - nitroparaffin - nonparaffin - parafango - paraffinate - paraffinic - paraffinization - paraffinize ## Etymology From Latin paraffinum, from parum (too little) + affinis (related, affinity). Therefore low affinity or being chemically neutral. ## Topics - Science & Research markdown