Word of the Week: February 12, 2001
Nylon

Nylon is a product invented by DuPont. Chemically, it is polyhexamethyleneadipamide, a rather cumbersome moniker by any standards. It is included here because it is a name so common that it has earned a place in any dictionary, but it has absolutely no etymology. Just as the product nylon itself first saw the light of day in Dupont labs, so did the word. John W. Eckleberry of DuPont said, in a letter published in Women's Wear Daily #9, February 22, 1940, "the letters n-y-l-o-n have absolutely no significance, etymologically or otherwise." He goes on to say that cotton and rayon influenced the choice, but it was a wholly made-up name. So any etymology you ever hear for nylon is just synthetic nonsense!

Words of the Week are written by Dr. Jacques A. Bailly.