linoleum
UK /lɪˈnəʊli.əm/ · US /lɪˈnoʊli.əm/ noun
Forms linoleums
- noun An inexpensive waterproof covering used especially for floors, made from solidified linseed oil over a burlap or canvas backing, or from its modern replacement, polyvinyl chloride.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin līnum (“flax”) + oleum (“oil”). Coined by English manufacturer and inventor Frederick Walton c. 1864 and used as a trade name but never registered as a trademark. It was the first product whose name was ruled to be genericized.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Linseed oil brought to various degrees of hardness by some oxidizing process, as by exposure to heated air, or by treatment with chloride of sulphur. In this condition it is used for many of the purposes to which India rubber has been applied.
- noun A kind of floor cloth made by laying hardened linseed oil mixed with ground cork on a canvas backing.
Etymology [L. linum flax + oleum oil.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “linoleum”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details