Etymologically
Log in

nylon

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnaɪlɒn/[1]
  • US: /ˈnaɪlɑn/[1]

Etymology

It was coined in 1938 by the Du Pont company as a generic name, not a trademark,[2][3][4] an arbitrary formation on the model of cotton and rayon.[2][5][6] According to Du Pont it is a syllable “nyl-” with no meaning plus the ending -on of those fibre names.[3][7][4] A Du Pont letter of 1940 stated that the letters had no significance, etymologically or otherwise, and that a name ending in -on had been wanted after cotton and rayon.[2] A later account quoted by the OED has the name evolving from “norun”, through “nuron” and “nulon”, to “nilon” and finally nylon.[2] Partridge was told by the manufacturers that it was arbitrary.[8] The popular story that it stands for New York and London has no evidence behind it.[2][4][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A synthetic polyamide thermoplastic: 1938, in the New York Times.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1939 Consumer Reports called it Du Pont's "much-publicised new miracle yarn", due to appear in five million stockings the next year.[7] The adjective, made of nylon, is recorded from 1939,[2][7] and by 1940 the plural nylons meant nylon stockings, while nylon alone also meant the fabric.[2][4][9] In Caribbean English the adjective has been used humorously since 1955 for "new and improved", especially of a newly surfaced road.[2] In South African township slang a nylon was a police van, from its mesh or perspex sides.[10]

Timeline

  • 1938 – coined by Du Pont; the synthetic polymer.[2][3][7]
  • 1939 – adjective, made of nylon.[2][7]
  • 1940 – the fabric;[2] nylons, stockings.[2][4]
  • 1955 – Caribbean, new and improved.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any of a family of strong, elastic synthetic polyamide materials, made into fibres, bristles, sheets and moulded articles.[11][12][2]
  2. Yarn or cloth made from it: a tent of lightweight nylon.[11][2]
  3. nylons: stockings or tights made of nylon.[12][2][13]

Adjective

  1. Made of nylon: a nylon rope.[2][11]

Usage notes

Hendrickson also rejects the story that the name is an acronym of an anti-Japanese slogan; he notes that nylon was first mass-produced during the Second World War.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  9. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  14. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File