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stearic acid

A colorless, odorless, waxlike, saturated fatty acid, C₁₈H₃₆O₂, occurring in natural animal and vegetable fats and used in making soaps, candles, lubricants, and other products.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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