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latex

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latex¹

  • /ˈleɪtɛks/ UK
  • /ˈleɪˌtɛks/ US

Where it comes from

Borrowed from New Latin latex (“clear fluid which is part of a humour or bodily fluid”), a later use of Latin latex (“water; liquid, fluid”). Potentially a borrowing from Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ (lắtăx, “drop of wine”), reformed by analogy to other nouns in -ex. The semantic shift, however, from drop of wine to water is difficult to explain and may indicate that both words originated from a separate language. Perhaps from the same root as Proto-Celtic *latis (Old Irish laith (“liquid, beer”), Welsh llad (“beer”)) or Proto-Germanic *ladjō- (Old High German letto (“clay, loam”), Old Norse leðja (“mud, dregs”)) or from a Pre-Greek language.

noun latices · latexes

  1. archaic, countable, rare, uncountable A clear liquid believed to be a component of a humour or other bodily fluid (esp. plasma and lymph).
  2. countable, uncountable The milky sap of several trees that coagulates on exposure to air; used to make rubber.
  3. countable, uncountable An emulsion of rubber in water, used in adhesives and the like.
  4. countable, uncountable Natural latex rubber, especially nonvulcanized rubber, such as is used in making latex gloves, latex condoms, and latex clothing.

LaTeX²

  • /ˈlɑːtɛx/
  • /ˈleɪtɛx/
  • /ˈlɑːtɛk/
  • /ˈleɪtɛk/
  • /ˈleɪtɛks/

Where it comes from

Usually thought to be a blend of Lamport + TeX, the former being the surname of its creator, Leslie Lamport.

proper noun

  1. A digital typesetting system for mathematical and scientific formulae layout, based on TeX; often stylized as LaTeX.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: latex paint, rubber-base paint, rubber, condoms, caoutchouc, polyisoprene, elastomer, gum, natural rubber, emulsion, dispersion, emulsion paint, sap, exudate, latex rubber, rubber latex

Translations

Every language

noun milky sap

Españollátex, siringa, shiringa
한국어라텍스 ratekseu
日本語乳液 nyūeki, 乳汁 nyūjū, ラテックス ratekkusu
中文橡漿 /橡浆 xiàngjiāng
Portuguêslátex
Françaislatex
DeutschLatex, Milchsaft
Italianolatice, lattice
Ελληνικάκόμμι kómmi
Românălatex
Русскийла́текс látɛks, мле́чный сок mléčnyj sok
עבריתלטקס láteks

noun emulsion

Españollátex
中文膠乳 /胶乳 jiāorǔ, 乳膠 /乳胶 rǔjiāo
Portuguêslátex
DeutschLatex
Русскийла́текс látɛks

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Cite this
MLA

"latex." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/latex. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

latex. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/latex

Chicago

"latex." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/latex.

BibTeX
@misc{latex_2026,
  title = {latex},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/latex},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}