latex

[ley-teks] /ˈleɪ tɛks/
noun, plural latices
[lat-uh-seez] /ˈlæt əˌsiz/ (Show IPA), latexes.
1.
a milky liquid in certain plants, as milkweeds, euphorbias, poppies, or the plants yielding India rubber, that coagulates on exposure to air.
2.
Chemistry. any emulsion in water of finely divided particles of synthetic rubber or plastic.
Origin
1655-65; < Neo-Latin, special use of Latin latex water, juice, liquid
Examples from the web for latex
  • Many of the suits' inner latex liners were crumbling to pieces.
  • Gray latex paint and paintbrush, or a thick permanent marker.
  • With a foam paint roller, apply one coat of acrylic latex paint for your background color.
  • Paint the trunks with white latex, or cover them with a commercial tree wrap.
  • She covered the walls with rich shades of flat exterior latex paint.
  • Protect them with a coat of white latex paint or a length of corrugated drain pipe split lengthwise.
  • latex allergy is reactive in the presence of iron.
  • Then she donned beige coveralls, went out to the examining bay, and pulled a latex examination glove over her left arm.
  • When he peels off his latex gloves he sees hands with damp pink wrinkles.
  • Howling, she grabs fistfuls of air, writhing in a blur of blue latex and spangled fur.
British Dictionary definitions for latex

latex

/ˈleɪtɛks/
noun (pl) latexes, latices (ˈlætɪˌsiːz)
1.
a whitish milky fluid containing protein, starch, alkaloids, etc, that is produced by many plants. Latex from the rubber tree is used in the manufacture of rubber
2.
a suspension of synthetic rubber or plastic in water, used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber products, etc
Word Origin
C19: New Latin, from Latin: liquid, fluid
Word Origin and History for latex
n.

1660s, "body fluid," from Latin latex (genitive laticis) "liquid, fluid," probably from Greek latax "dregs," from PIE root *lat- "wet" (cf. Middle Irish laith "beer," Welsh llaid "mud, mire," Lithuanian latakas "pool, puddle," Old Norse leþja "filth"). Used 1835 to mean "milky liquid from plants." Meaning "water-dispersed polymer particles" (used in rubber goods, paints, etc.) is from 1937. As an adjective by 1954, in place of clasically correct laticiferous.

latex in Medicine

latex la·tex (lā'těks')
n.

  1. The colorless or milky sap of certain plants, such as the poinsettia, that coagulates on exposure to air.

  2. An emulsion of rubber or plastic globules in water, used in adhesives and synthetic rubber products.

la'tex' adj.
latex in Science
latex
  (lā'těks')   

  1. The colorless or milky sap of certain trees and plants, such as the milkweed and the rubber tree, that hardens when exposed to the air. Latex usually contains gum resins, waxes, and oils, and sometimes toxic substances.

  2. A manufactured emulsion of synthetic rubber or plastic droplets in water that resembles the latex of plants. It is used in paints, adhesives, and synthetic rubber products.


latex in Technology

language, text, tool
(Lamport TeX) Leslie Lamport lamport@pa.dec.com's document preparation system built on top of TeX. LaTeX was developed at SRI International's Computer Science Laboratory and was built to resemble Scribe.
LaTeX adds commands to simplify typesetting and lets the user concentrate on the structure of the text rather than on formatting commands.
BibTeX is a LaTeX package for bibliographic citations.
Lamport's LaTeX book has an exemplary index listing every symbol, concept and example in the book. The index in the, now obsolete, first edition includes (on page 221) the mysterious entry "Gilkerson, Ellen, 221". The second edition (1994) has an entry for "infinite loop" instead.
["LaTeX, A Document Preparation System", Leslie Lamport, A-W 1986, ISBN 0-201-15790-X (first edition, now obsolete)].
(1997-11-17)