Emulsion

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mixture of two liquids where tiny droplets of one are suspended throughout the other, like oil dispersed in water
2. A liquid mixture where one liquid is dispersed as small droplets in another, commonly seen in products like mayonnaise or paint
3. A substance formed by mixing two immiscible liquids, resulting in one liquid being finely distributed within the other, such as oil in water or in food products

Etymology: The Latin verb "ēmulgeō" meant "to milk out" or "to extract," built from "ex" ("out") and "mulgeō" ("to milk"). That literal sense of drawing something out by squeezing or milking is the seed of the modern meaning. Latin "mulgeō" is an ordinary agricultural verb, so the word's root is as down-to-earth as a dairy barn. The noun arrived through French "émulsion," which came from New Latin "ēmulsiō," a later scholarly formation based on that verb. The sense of a milky liquid made from crushed seeds or fats, in which fine droplets are suspended, grew naturally from the idea of something "milked out" into a white, creamy fluid. Chemists and pharmacists then extended the term to any mixture of two liquids that do not readily blend, such as oil and water.

Synonyms: mixture, blend, suspension

Antonyms: separation, division