napalm

Etymology

It is a blend from English naphthenic + palmitic, from the first syllables of the names of the two acids whose aluminium salts were used to make the thickening agent.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED, Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the American Heritage Dictionary take it from naphthenate and palmitate, the salts themselves.^{[7][8][9][10]} The first acid is named from naphtha, ultimately of Greek origin, and the second from Latin palma (“palm”), since the acid is obtained from palm oil.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The thickening agent, or the petrol jelly made with it: 1942, quoted from L. F. Fieser in his Scientific Method (1964).^[7] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged also give 1942.^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Napalm was used in the Second World War, but Ayto notes that it was the Korean War that brought it to public attention, and the verb dates from then:^[5] it is recorded from 1950, first in the New York Times,^[7][3][8] and Barnhart calls the verb American.^[3] The jelly was used in flamethrowers and incendiary bombs.^[2][8][11] Since 1984 the noun has also been used figuratively for an extremely unpleasant substance.^[7]

Timeline

• 1942 – the thickening agent, and the jellied petrol made with it.^[7][2][8]
• 1950 – verb, to attack or destroy with napalm.^[7][3][8]
• 1984 – figuratively, an extremely unpleasant substance.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thickening agent made from aluminium soaps, used to turn gasoline into a jelly.^[8][7]
2. The highly incendiary jelly made in this way, used in firebombs and flamethrowers.^[11][8][7]

Verb

1. To attack or destroy with napalm: The village was napalmed in the night.^[11][8][7]

Related words

• naphtha
• naphthenic
• palmitic
• palm

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins