la·tex

[ley-teks]
noun, plural lat·i·ces [lat-uh-seez] , la·tex·es.
1.
a milky liquid in certain plants, as milkweeds, euphorbias, poppies, or the plants yielding India rubber, that coagulates on exposure to air.
2.
Chemistry. any emulsion in water of finely divided particles of synthetic rubber or plastic.

Origin:
1655–65; < Neo-Latin, special use of Latin latex water, juice, liquid

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To latex
Collins
World English Dictionary
latex (ˈleɪtɛks) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl latexes, latices
1.  a whitish milky fluid containing protein, starch, alkaloids, etc, that is produced by many plants. Latex from the rubber tree is used in the manufacture of rubber
2.  a suspension of synthetic rubber or plastic in water, used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber products, etc
 
[C19: New Latin, from Latin: liquid, fluid]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Latex is always a great word to know.
So is anhydrous. Does it mean:
with all water removed, especially water of crystallization
a double sulfate analogous to potassium alum, as aluminum ammonium sulfate, with the formula R2SO4?X2(SO4)3?24H2O, where R is alkali metal or ammonium
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

latex
1662, "body fluid," from L. latex (gen. laticis) "liquid, fluid," probably from Gk. latax "dregs," from PIE base *lat- "wet" (cf. M.Ir. laith "beer," Welsh llaid "mud, mire," Lith. latakas "pool, puddle," O.N. leþja "filth"). Used 1835 to mean "milky liquid from plants." Meaning "water-dispersed
polymer particles" (used in rubber goods, paints, etc.) is from 1937.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

latex la·tex (lā'těks')
n.

  1. The colorless or milky sap of certain plants, such as the poinsettia, that coagulates on exposure to air.

  2. An emulsion of rubber or plastic globules in water, used in adhesives and synthetic rubber products.


la'tex' adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
latex   (lā'těks')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. The colorless or milky sap of certain trees and plants, such as the milkweed and the rubber tree, that hardens when exposed to the air. Latex usually contains gum resins, waxes, and oils, and sometimes toxic substances.

  2. A manufactured emulsion of synthetic rubber or plastic droplets in water that resembles the latex of plants. It is used in paints, adhesives, and synthetic rubber products.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

LaTeX definition

language, text, tool
(Lamport TeX) Leslie Lamport lamport@pa.dec.com's document preparation system built on top of TeX. LaTeX was developed at SRI International's Computer Science Laboratory and was built to resemble Scribe.
LaTeX adds commands to simplify typesetting and lets the user concentrate on the structure of the text rather than on formatting commands.
BibTeX is a LaTeX package for bibliographic citations.
Lamport's LaTeX book has an exemplary index listing every symbol, concept and example in the book. The index in the, now obsolete, first edition includes (on page 221) the mysterious entry "Gilkerson, Ellen, 221". The second edition (1994) has an entry for "infinite loop" instead.
["LaTeX, A Document Preparation System", Leslie Lamport, A-W 1986, ISBN 0-201-15790-X (first edition, now obsolete)].
(1997-11-17)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Latex is obtained by tapping-cutting or shaving the bark with a sharp knife-and
  collecting the latex in cups.
Latex adhesive permanently mends fabric, leather tears.
Soon small white drops of latex appeared in the cut and dripped into a cup.
She covered the walls with rich shades of flat exterior latex paint.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT