Meaning & use
glycerol
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablechemistry
A thick, sweet, colorless liquid with three alcohol groups, found in fats and oils and used in foods, medicines and cosmetics.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: some glycerol, not a glycerol.
Patterns
- glycerol in something
- glycerol and fatty acids
Fats are made of glycerol joined to fatty acids.
Glycerol keeps the cream from drying out.
The lab added glycerol to keep the cells from freezing.
Common combinations
- glycerol and fatty acids
- Digestion breaks fats down into glycerol and fatty acids.
- added glycerol
- The soap contains added glycerol to soften the skin.
- pure glycerol
- Pure glycerol is thick and sticky.
- glycerol backbone
- Each triglyceride has a glycerol backbone.
- vegetable glycerol
- Vegetable glycerol is used in many sweets.
Synonyms and how they differ
- glycerin
- Glycerin names the commercial product, which may be less pure, whereas glycerol is the exact chemical name.
- glycerine
- Glycerine is the British spelling of glycerin, used in everyday products.
- propane-1,2,3-triol
- This is the full systematic chemical name, used in formal chemistry rather than everyday speech.
Word family
- glyceride noun
- a compound of glycerol with fatty acids
- triglyceride noun
- a fat made of one glycerol and three fatty acids
- glycerin noun
- commercial form of glycerol
- glycerinate verb
- to treat with glycerin
Commonly confused: glycerol or glycol? glycerol or glucose?
glycerol vs glycol
Glycol, such as ethylene glycol in antifreeze, is a different compound with two alcohol groups and can be toxic.
glycerol vs glucose
Glucose is a sugar, while glycerol is an alcohol, even though both taste sweet.
Practice
A fat molecule is made from fatty acids and which other substance?
Choose one answer.
Fats (triglycerides) consist of fatty acids bound to glycerol. Glucose is a sugar, and glycol is a different alcohol.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “glycerol”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.