Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Surfactant |
SurfactantNoun1. A substance capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemistry | A substance that, when added to a liquid, affects the physical properties of the liquid surface, e. g. increasing its wetting properties or assisting the formulation of emulsified liquids. Source: European Union. (references) |
Environment | A detergent compound that promotes lathering. (references) |
Health | A fat-containing protein in the respiratory passages which reduces the surface tension of pulmonary fluids and contributes to the elastic properties of pulmonary tissue. (references) |
Mining | Surface active agent, a substance that affects the properties of the surface of a liquid or solid by concentrating in the surface layer. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Surfactants, also known as wetting agents, lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading. The term surfactant is a compression of "Surface active agent". Surfactants are usually organic compounds that contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups, and are thus semi-soluble in both organic and aqueous solvents. Surfactants are also known as amphipathic compounds, meaning that they would prefer to be in neither phase (water or organic). For this reason they locate at the phase boundary between the organic and water phase, or, if there is no more room there, they will congregate together and form micelles. The concentration at which surfactants begin to form micelles is known as the critical micelle concentration or CMC.Surfactants are active ingredients in detergents, emulsifiers, paints, adhesives, inks, and so on.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Surfactant."
Synonyms: SurfactantSynonyms: surface-active agent (n), wetter (n), wetting agent (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Surfactant |
| Specialty definitions using "surfactant": Benzethonium ♦ Cetomacrogol ♦ Dioctyl Sulfosuccinic Acid ♦ Ethanolamine ♦ Fetal Organ Maturity ♦ Holothurin ♦ Nonoxynol ♦ Octoxynol. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Type II epithelial cells become the sites for surfactant production. (references) | |
The most effective treatment for RDS is the administration of surfactant. (references) | ||
Significant surfactant production does not normally occur until 34 weeks of gestation. (references) | ||
Business | In 1996, output of industrial surfactants totaled 290,000 tons, which was only 30% of Japan’s industrial surfactant output. (references) | |
By the end of December 1997, China produced nearly 1,300 surfactant varieties, which is only about 30% of Japan’s output level for the same products. (references) | ||
French Rhone-Poulenc set up a JV in Jiangxi to produce organic silicon adhesive products, a JV in Wuxi to produce industrial surfactant, and one in Suzhou to produce acrylic ester, lubricating agents and dyestuff auxiliaries. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Surfactant" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 58.82% of the time. "Surfactant" is used about 17 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 58.82% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 41.18% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Total | 100.00% | 17 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "surfactant": usually known as surfactant. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "surfactant": surfactant-coated, surfactant-polymer. | |
Ending with "surfactant": co-surfactant. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "surfactant"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 表面活化剂. (various references) | |
Danish | tensid (tenside), overfladeaktivt middel (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), overfladeaktiv substans (surface-active agent, wetting agent), overfladeaktiv (surface-active, tenside), befugtningsmiddel (surface active agent, surface-active agent, wetting agent), afspaendingsmiddel (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent). (various references) | |
Dutch | tension-actief (surface-active agent, wetting agent), tensioactieve stof (surface-active agent, wetting agent), oppervlaktespanning-verlagend middel (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), oppervlakte actieve stof (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), oppervlakactief (tenside), grensvlakactief (tenside). (various references) | |
Finnish | pinta-aktiivinen aine (surface active agent, surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), pinta-aktiivinen (surface-active, tenside). (various references) | |
French | surfactif (surface-active, surface-active agent), surfactant, surfaçant (surface-active agent), tensio-dépresseur, tensio-actif (surface-active, surface-active agent), produit tensioactif (surface-active agent), agent tensio-modificateur (surface-active agent), agent tensio-actif (surface-active agent), agent tensioactif (surface active agent, surface-active agent), agent de surface (surface-active agent). (various references) | |
German | Tensid (detergent, tenside), Oberflaechenaktives Mittel (tenside), oberflaechenaktive Substanz (tenside), oberflächenaktives Mittel (surface-active agent, wetting agent), oberflächenaktive Substanz (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), Entspannungsmittel (relaxant), Ausbreitungsstoff (surface-active agent, wetting agent). (various references) | |
Greek | μη ιονιζόμενη τασιενεργός ουσία (nonionic surfactant), μη ιονιζόμενο επιφανειακώς ενεργό αντιδραστήριο (nonionic surfactant), τασιενεργό προϊόν (surface-active agent, usually known as surfactant), το λεπτό στρώμα υγρού που υγραίνει την εσωτερική επιφάνεια του πνεύμονα-παράγοντας επιφανειακής τάσης-συνίσταται από φωσφολιπίδια και μο (the film of fluid which moistens the inner surface of the lung - the surfactant factor - consists of phospholipides and mucopolysaccharides), ουσία που ενεργεί πάνω στην επιφάνεια (surface-active agent, usually known as surfactant). (various references) | |
Hungarian | felületaktív anyag. (various references) | |
Italian | sostanza tensio-attiva (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), tensioattivo (tensioactive), prodotto tensioattivo (surface-active agent, usually known as surfactant, wetting agent), agente tensio-attivo (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), agente tensioattivo (surface-active agent, wetting agent), agente di superficie (tenside). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 界面活性剤 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かいめ"かっせいざい. (various references) | |
Korean | 계면활성 . (various references) | |
Pig Latin | urfactantsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | tensio-activo (tenside), produto tensio-activo (surface-active agent, wetting agent), agente tensio-activo (tenside), agente tensioactivo (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), aditivo detersivo (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent). (various references) | |
Russian | повехностно-активный вещество. (various references) | |
Spanish | surfactivo agente tensiactivo (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), tensioactivo (surface-active, tenside), agente tenso-activo (tenside), agente tensoactivo (surface-active agent, tenside, wetting agent), agente tensioactivo (surface active agent, surface-active agent, wetting agent), agente de superficie (tenside). (various references) | |
Swedish | ytaktivt medel (tenside), ytaktivt ämne (surface active agent, surface-active agent, wetting agent), tensid (tenside). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "surfactant": surfactants. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "surfactant": cosurfactant. (additional references) | |
Words containing "surfactant": cosurfactants. (additional references) | |
| |
"Surfactant" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: surfacant, surfectant. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "surfactant" (pronounced serfa"ktunt) |
| 5 | -k t u n t | disinfectant, expectant, reluctant. |
| 4 | -t u n t | accountant, adjutant, assistant, blatant, combatant, competent, concomitant, consistent, constant, consultant, contestant, important, impotent, inadvertent, decongestant, distant, existent, exorbitant, extant, exultant, hesitant, incompetent, inconsistent, inhabitant, insistent, instant, intermittent, irritant, latent, militant, mutant, noncombatant, nonexistent, omnipotent, patent, penitent, persistent, pollutant, potent, protestant, repentant, resistant, resultant, unimportant, unrepentant. |
| 3 | -u n t | agent, aggrandizement, agreement, ailment, alignment, allotment, amazement, ambient, ambivalent, amendment, amusement, ancient, announcement, annulment, antecedent, antidepressant, antigovernment, antioxidant, apartment, apparent, appeasement, applicant, appointment, apportionment, ardent, argent, argument, armament, arraignment, arrangement, arrant, arrogant, absent, absorbent, abstinent, abundant, accelerant, accident, accompaniment, accomplishment, abandonment, abatement, aberrant, abhorrent, abortifacient, accouterment, achievement, acknowledgement, acknowledgment, adamant, adherent, adjacent, adjournment, adjustment, adolescent, adornment, advancement, advertisement, advisement, afferent, affiant, affluent, ascendant, aspirant, assailant, assessment, assignment, assortment, astonishment, astringent, atonement, attachment, attainment, attendant, banishment, basement, battlement, belligerent, bemusement, beneficent, benevolent, bereavement, betterment, bewilderment, blandishment, bombardment, brilliant, buoyant, celebrant, claimant, clairvoyant, Clement, client, coefficient, cogent, cognizant, coherent, coincident, commandment, commencement, commitment, compartment, complacent, complainant, complaisant, complement, compliant, component, comportment, concealment, concurrent, condiment, confident, confinement, confluent, consequent, consignment, consonant, constituent, containment, contaminant, contentment, continent, contingent, convalescent, convenient, convent, convergent, conversant, coolant, copayment, corespondent, cormorant, correspondent, Courant, covenant, Crescent, crosscurrent, current, curtailment, ignorant, immanent, immigrant, imminent, impairment, impatient, impeachment, impediment, impertinent, implement, impoundment, impoverishment, impressment, imprisonment, improvement, imprudent, incandescent, debarment, debasement, decadent, decedent, decent, declarant, defendant, deferment, defiant, deficient, defoliant, delinquent, deodorant, department, dependent, deployment, deportment, depressant, derailment, descendant, descendent, despondent, detachment, detergent, determent, determinant, deterrent, detriment, development, deviant, different, diligent, diminishment, disagreement, disappointment, disarmament, disbarment, disbursement, discernment, discordant, discouragement, disenchantment, disenfranchisement, disengagement, disestablishment, disgruntlement, disillusionment, disinvestment, dismantlement, dismemberment, disobedient, dispersant, displacement, dissident, dissonant, divalent, divergent, divestment, docent, dominant, dormant, easement, ebullient, efferent, effervescent, efficient, effluent, elegant, element, elephant, eloquent, embankment, embarrassment, embayment, embellishment, embezzlement, embodiment, emergent, emigrant, eminent, emplacement, employment, empowerment, enactment, encampment, enchantment, encirclement, encouragement, encroachment, endangerment, endearment, endorsement, endowment, enforcement, engagement, enhancement, enjoyment, enlargement, enlightenment, enlistment, enrichment, enrollment, enslavement, entanglement, entertainment, enticement, entitlement, entombment, entrant, entrapment, entrenchment, environment, equipment, equivalent, errant, escapement, escarpment, esculent, establishment, estrangement, evanescent, evident, excellent, excitement, excrement, exigent, expectorant, expedient, experiment, exponent, extinguishment, extravagant, exuberant, Fabricant, fervent, figment, filament, flagrant, flamboyant, flatulent, flippant, fluent, fluorescent, formant, fragment, fragrant, fraudulent, frequent, fulfillment, gallant, garment, garnishment, giant, government, grandiloquent, grandparent, harassment, hydrant, incessant, incident, incipient, incitement, inclement, incoherent, incontinent, inconvenient, increment, incumbent, indecent, independent, indictment, indifferent, indigent, indignant, indolent, inducement, indulgent, inefficient, infant, informant, infotainment, infrequent, infringement, ingredient, inhalant, inherent, innocent, inpatient, insignificant, insolent, insolvent, installment, instrument, insufficient, insurgent, integument, intelligent, intercurrent, interdependent, internment, intersegment, intolerant, intransigent, invariant, investment, involvement, iridescent, irrelevant, irreverent, itinerant, jubilant, judgement, judgment, leant, lenient, lieutenant, ligament, litigant, lubricant, lucent, luminescent, luxuriant, magnificent, malevolent, malignant, maltreatment, management, measurement, merchant, micromanagement, migrant, miscreant, misgovernment, misjudgment, mismanagement, misstatement, mistreatment, moment, monovalent, monument, mordant, movement, nascent, negligent, nongovernment, nonmanagement, nonpayment, nonresident, nonviolent, nourishment, nutrient, obedient, observant, obsolescent, occupant, odorant, ointment, omnipresent, omniscient, operant, opponent, opulent, ornament, orpiment, outpatient, outplacement, overconfident, overpayment, overstatement, oxidant, pageant, parchment, parent, parliament, participant, patient, pavement, payment, peasant, penchant, pendant, pennant, percipient, permanent, pertinent, petulant, pheasant, pigment, piquant, placement, pleasant, pliant, poignant, postponement, postretirement, preadolescent, precedent, predicament, predominant, preeminent, pregnant, prejudgment, prepayment, prescient, present, presentment, prevalent, procurement, proficient, prominent, pronouncement, propellant, proponent, provident, prudent, prurient, pungent, punishment, pursuant, puzzlement, quadrant, quiescent, quotient, radiant, rampant, readjustment, reagent, realignment, reappointment, reapportionment, rearmament, rearrangement, reassessment, reassignment, recalcitrant, recent, recipient, recombinant, recruitment, recurrent, redeployment, redevelopment, redundant, reemployment, reenactment, refinement, refreshment, refrigerant, refurbishment, Regent, regiment, registrant, reimbursement, reinforcement, reinstatement, reinvestment, relevant, reliant, reminiscent, remnant, repayment, repellent, replacement, replenishment, repugnant, requirement, resentment, resettlement, resident, resilient, resonant, resplendent, respondent, restatement, resurgent, retardant, reticent, retirement, retrenchment, reverent, rodent, rudiment, ruminant, sacrament, salient, seafront, sealant, sediment, segment, semipermanent, sentiment, Sequent, sergeant, serpent, servant, settlement, shipment, significant, silent, solvent, somnolent, stagnant, statement, stimulant, strident, stringent, student, subcontinent, subsequent, subservient, succulent, sufficient, supergiant, superintendent, supplement, supplicant, suppressant, talent, tangent, temperament, tenant, tenement, testament, tetravalent, tolerant, torrent, tournament, transcendent, transient, translucent, transparent, treatment, trenchant, trident, triumphant, truant, truculent, tumescent, turbulent, tyrant, undercurrent, underdevelopment, underemployment, undergarment, underpayment, understatement, unemployment, unpleasant, urgent, vacant, vagrant, valiant, variant, vehement, verdant, vibrant, vigilant, violent, virulent, warrant, wonderment. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-f-n-r-s-t-t-u" | |
-2 letters: saturant, transact. | |
-3 letters: caftans, fantast, fractus, rattans, tantras, tartans, truants. | |
-4 letters: acarus, attars, caftan, cantus, carats, crafts, faunas, fracas, francs, frusta, furans, ratans, rattan, ruanas, sancta, santur, strata, strunt, tantra, tartan, tatars, taunts, tracts, truant. | |
-5 letters: afars, antas, antra, arcus, attar, aunts, auras, canst, cants, carat, carns, carts, craft, crust, curfs, curns, curst, facts. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-f-n-r-s-t-t-u" | |
+1 letter: surfactants. | |
+2 letters: cosurfactant. | |
+3 letters: anfractuosity, cosurfactants. | |
+4 letters: unsatisfactory. | |
+5 letters: anfractuosities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
