Etymology
Arbitrary letters + -on (by analogy with cotton); the widespread claim that the word derives from abbreviations of New York and London is a myth. Another claim is that an earlier name proposed for the material, intended for use in stockings, was "no-run", which was altered to avoid falsely representing that stockings made from the material would not run at all.[1]
Noun
nylon (countable and uncountable, plural nylons)
- Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
- (in the plural) A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.
I tore a hole in my nylons while walking home through the woods.
- 1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
- He put on make-up, nylons, panties, a dress.
2007, Matthew Weiner, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, in Mad Men, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Don Draper (Jon Hamm):What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts.
- (perjoratively, by comparison to silk) A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.
Descendants
- → Persian: نایلون (nâylon)
- → Polish: nylon
- → Spanish: nailon
- → Southeastern Tepehuan: nailo
- → Tibetan: ནེ་ལོན (ne lon)
- → Turkish: naylon
- → Chinese: 尼龍/尼龙 (nÍlóng)
References
John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language (2009), p. 224.