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Cosmetic
Definitions
- 1 Imparting or improving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion.
"a cosmetic preparation"
- 2 External or superficial; pertaining only to the surface or appearance of something.
"Fortunately, the damage to the house was mostly cosmetic and a bit of paint covered it nicely."
- 1 serving an aesthetic purpose in beautifying the body wordnet
- 2 serving an esthetic rather than a useful purpose wordnet
- 1 Any substances applied to enhance the external color or texture of the skin, e.g. lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner.
"These endocrine disruptors are everywhere: plastics, shampoos, cosmetics, cushions, pesticides, canned foods and A.T.M. receipts. They often aren’t on labels and can be difficult to avoid."
- 2 a toiletry designed to beautify the body wordnet
- 3 A feature existing only on the surface.
- 4 An intangible influence that improves the overall perception of some thing or situation.
"All depends upon circumstances—anger as much as any thing else. Interest is your only true cosmetic for smoothing the brow."
Etymology
From French cosmétique, from Ancient Greek κοσμητική (kosmētikḗ, “the art of dress and ornament”), κοσμητικός (kosmētikós), from κοσμητής (kosmētḗs, “orderer, director, decorator”), from κοσμέω (kosméō, “to order, to arrange, to rule, to adorn, to equip, to dress, to embellish”), from κόσμος (kósmos, “order”). By surface analysis, cosmos + -etic.
From French cosmétique, from Ancient Greek κοσμητική (kosmētikḗ, “the art of dress and ornament”), κοσμητικός (kosmētikós), from κοσμητής (kosmētḗs, “orderer, director, decorator”), from κοσμέω (kosméō, “to order, to arrange, to rule, to adorn, to equip, to dress, to embellish”), from κόσμος (kósmos, “order”). By surface analysis, cosmos + -etic.
See also for "cosmetic"
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