margarine
UK[ˌmɑː.dʒərˈiːn]US[ˈmɑːr.dʒər.ɪn]
n
a yellow substance similar to butter, made from vegetable or animal fats, used in cooking or spread on bread.
Morpheme Breakdown
margar
ine
margar
sense
ine
sense
Etymology
the word 'margarine' was coined in 1813 by french chemist michel eugène chevreul. he named the fatty substance "margaric acid" after the greek 'margaron' (pearl) because its crystals exhibited a pearly luster. the suffix '-ine', common in chemistry for derived substances, was later appended to form 'margarine' when the butter substitute was patented in 1869. thus, the term's literal "pearly substance" evolved from describing a visual property of a chemical compound to denoting a specific food product.
Analysis
Structure: margar (sense) + ine (sense)
- margar: from greek 'margaron', meaning "pearl". in the word, it refers to the pearly luster of the original compound's fatty crystals.
- ine: a suffix of french/latin origin used to form nouns, often denoting substances, materials, or chemical derivatives.
Examples
she spread margarine on her toast instead of butter.
many recipes call for margarine as a cheaper alternative to butter.
the production of margarine involves hydrogenating vegetable oils.