Synonym Game

rancidity

[ran-sid]

ran·cid

[ran-sid]
adjective
1.
having a rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, as through decomposition, especially of fats or oils: rancid butter.
2.
(of an odor or taste) rank, unpleasant, and stale: a rancid smell.
3.
offensive or nasty; disagreeable.

Origin:
1640–50; < Latin rancidus rank, stinking, equivalent to ranc(ēre) to be rotten + -idus -id4

ran·cid·ly, adverb
ran·cid·ness, ran·cid·i·ty, noun
un·ran·cid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Rancidity is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
rancid (ˈrænsɪd)
 
adj
1.  (of butter, bacon, etc) having an unpleasant stale taste or smell as the result of decomposition
2.  (of a taste or smell) rank or sour; stale
 
[C17: from Latin rancidus rank, from rancēre to stink]
 
rancidity
 
n
 
'rancidness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

rancidity

condition produced by aerial oxidation of unsaturated fat present in foods and other products, marked by unpleasant odour or flavour. When a fatty substance is exposed to air, its unsaturated components are converted into hydroperoxides, which break down into volatile aldehydes, esters, alcohols, ketones, and hydrocarbons, some of which have disagreeable odours. Butter becomes rancid by the foregoing process and by hydrolysis, which liberates volatile and malodorous acids, particularly butyric acid. Saturated fats such as beef tallow are resistant to oxidation and seldom become rancid at ordinary temperatures.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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