paraffin

paraffin is a topic covered in the Taber's Medical Dictionary.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 24th Edition Online + App from F.A. Davis and Unbound Medicine. Find 75,000 medical and nursing definitions. Download to iPhone, iPad, and Android. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

(păr′ă-fĭn)

To hear audio pronunciation of this topic, purchase a subscription or log in.

[L. parum, too little, + affinis, neighboring]

1. A waxy, white, tasteless, odorless mixture of solid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum; used as an ointment base or wound dressing.
SEE: petrolatum
2. One of a series of saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having the formula CnH2n+2. Paraffins constitute the methane or paraffin series.
3. A series of solid waxes prepared according to their melting point, to be used to infiltrate and embed tissues for sectioning in the preparation of microscope slides.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

(păr′ă-fĭn)

To hear audio pronunciation of this topic, purchase a subscription or log in.

[L. parum, too little, + affinis, neighboring]

1. A waxy, white, tasteless, odorless mixture of solid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum; used as an ointment base or wound dressing.
SEE: petrolatum
2. One of a series of saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having the formula CnH2n+2. Paraffins constitute the methane or paraffin series.
3. A series of solid waxes prepared according to their melting point, to be used to infiltrate and embed tissues for sectioning in the preparation of microscope slides.

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.