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nylon.

Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈnaɪlɒn/UK/ˈnaɪlɑn/US
  1. Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
    I tore a hole in my nylons while walking home through the woods.
  3. A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Coined by the company DuPont in 1938. According to the company, the name was formed from the random generic syllable nyl- + the common fiber suffix -on (as in rayon and Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.