latex

CEFRB2

/ˈleɪtɛks/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A milky liquid from some plants, used to make rubber.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An emulsion of rubber in water, used in adhesives and the like.

Examples

  • Tom put on a pair of latex gloves.

  • Tom put on latex gloves.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The milky sap of several trees that coagulates on exposure to air; used to make rubber.

  2. A clear liquid believed to be a component of a humour or other bodily fluid (esp. plasma and lymph).

  3. Natural latex rubber, especially nonvulcanized rubber, such as is used in making latex gloves, latex condoms, and latex clothing.

More examples

In context

  • He's allergic to latex.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The painter wore gloves made of blank to protect his hands from harsh chemicals.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from New Latin latex (“clear fluid which is part of a humour or bodily fluid”), a later use of Latin latex (“water; liquid, fluid”). Potentially a borrowing from Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ (lắtăx, “drop of wine”), reformed by analogy to other nouns in -ex. The semantic shift, however, from drop of wine to water is difficult to explain and may indicate that both words originated from a separate language. Perhaps from the same root as Proto-Celtic *latis (Old Irish laith (“liquid, beer”), Welsh llad (“beer”)) or Proto-Germanic *ladjō- (Old High German letto (“clay, loam”), Old Norse leðja (“mud, dregs”)) or from a Pre-Greek language.