Congolene

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chemical cream applied to coarse or curly hair to straighten it, a product once widely sold under this name
2. A hair-straightening preparation, a cream that chemically relaxes curly hair into a smooth, straight texture
3. A relaxer cream that was marketed for straightening tightly curled hair by softening its natural curl pattern

Etymology: "Congolene" was a brand name, coined for a commercial hair-straightening product, so it has no older meaning behind it. The name points to the Congo, a region of central Africa, and its sound suggests a chemical preparation, a common combination in the trade names of that era. Because it is a proprietary invention, its history is that of the product itself. The word was formed deliberately to sell a product, and its meaning is simply that product, rather than any sense that developed over centuries.