aliphatic Hear it!

aliphatic definition

ali·phatic (al′ə fat′ik)

adjective

  1. pertaining to a fat or oil
  2. of or relating to a major group of organic compounds, structured in open chains, including alkanes (paraffins), alkenes (olefins), and alkynes (acetylenes)

Etymology: < Gr aleiphar (gen. aleiphatos), fat, oil + -ic

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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