nylon

English

Etymology

Arbitrary letters +‎ -on (by analogy with cotton); the widespread claim that the word derives from abbreviations of New York and London is a myth. Another claim is that an earlier name proposed for the material, intended for use in stockings, was "no-run", which was altered to avoid falsely representing that stockings made from the material would not run at all.

Pronunciation

English Wikipedia has an article on:

nylon

Wikipedia

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪlɒn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) nīʹlän, IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪlɑn/
• Rhymes: -aɪlɒn
• Hyphenation: ny‧lon

Noun

nylon (countable and uncountable, plural nylons)

1. Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
2. (in the plural) A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.

   I tore a hole in my nylons while walking home through the woods.

   • 1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure

     He put on make-up, nylons, panties, a dress.

   • 2007, Matthew Weiner, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, in Mad Men, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Don Draper (Jon Hamm):

     What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts.

3. (perjoratively, by comparison to silk) A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.

Derived terms

• Bri-Nylon
• nylonase
• nylon-string guitar

Descendants

• → Persian: نایلون (nâylon)
• → Polish: nylon
• → Spanish: nailon
  • → Southeastern Tepehuan: nailo
• → Tibetan: ནེ་ལོན (ne lon)
• → Turkish: naylon
• → Chinese: 尼龍／尼龙 (nÍlóng)

Translations

References

Anagrams

• nonyl

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• IPA^(key):

Noun

nylon m inan

1. nylon (copolymer consisting of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers)

Declension

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English nylon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɛi̯.lɔn/, /ˈnɑi̯.lɔn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ny‧lon

Noun

nylon n (uncountable)

1. Nylon.

Derived terms

• nylonkous
• nylonkweefsel

Noun

nylon m (plural nylons)

1. A nylon stocking.

   Synonym: nylonkous

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnylon/,
• Rhymes: -ylon
• Syllabification^(key): ny‧lon

Noun

nylon

1. Alternative form of nailon (“nylon”).

Declension

Further reading

• “nylon”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni.lɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

nylon m (plural nylons)

1. nylon (material)

Derived terms

• ennylonné

Further reading

• “nylon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

nylon

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Borrowed from English nylon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɨ.lɔn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɨlɔn
• Syllabification: ny‧lon

Noun

nylon m inan

1. nylon (substance)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• nylon in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• nylon in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• náilon

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English nylon.

Pronunciation

Noun

nylon m (uncountable)

1. nylon (a synthetic polymer)

Spanish

Noun

nylon m (uncountable)

1. nylon

Swedish

Noun

nylon n

1. nylon (synthetic fiber)

Declension

References

• nylon in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• nylon in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• nylon in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)