From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Paraffin \Par"af*fin\ (p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[i^]n), Paraffine \Par"af*fine\ (p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[i^]n or p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[=e]n), noun [F. paraffine, fr. L. parum too little + affinis akin. So named in allusion to its chemical inactivity.] (Chem.) A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc., by distillation. It is used in candles, as a sealing agent (such as in canning of preserves), as a waterproofing agent, as an illuminant and as a lubricant. It is very inert, not being acted upon by most of the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus gasoline, coal gas and kerosene consist largely of paraffins. [1913 Webster +PJC]
Note: In the present chemical usage this word is spelled paraffin, but in commerce it is commonly spelled paraffine.
{Native paraffin}. See {Ozocerite}.
{Paraffin series}. See {Methane series}, under {Methane}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings [syn: {paraffin wax}]
2: a non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbon with the general formula CnH(2n+2) [syn: {methane series}, {alkane series}, {alkane}]
3: British usage [syn: {paraffin oil}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
63 Moby Thesaurus words for "paraffin": alcohol, avgas, benzine, briquette, burnable, butane, carbon, charcoal, coal, coal oil, coke, combustible, crude, crude oil, dope, electricity, ethane, ethanol, ethyl, ethyl gas, fireball, firing, flammable, flammable material, fossil oil, fuel, fuel additive, fuel dope, gas, gas carbon, gasoline, heptane, hexane, high-octane gas, high-test, illuminant, illuminating gas, inflammable, inflammable material, isooctane, jet fuel, kerosene, lead-free gas, light source, low-lead gas, luminant, methane, methanol, motor oil, natural gas, octane, oil, peat, pentane, petrol, petroleum, premium gas, propane, propellant, regular, rock oil, rocket fuel, turf
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